VFTF1

This is old news. Everybody read that like months ago Get with the times! Pete

I think I'd rather get TV Max than DYRL Max ... But I don't see him on this links to imageshack...any chance of direct pics? Pete

Well, Frau Beau doesn't really do it for me. Other than her pretentious name (Hi, my name is ATTRACTIVE GIRL!), she is way to "young" and "girly." Ranka was girly, but she was also cute and hot in her girliness. Frau Beau is just girly. As for Syla - I dunno. She's just there. No femininity to her at all. I mean - Misa, despite her crusty exterior, actually exhuded VAST amounts of femininity and was very sexy despite trying not to be. Syla is...not. Also - the girls all wear pants suit military uniforms which again destracts from their feminitity. I mean, in Macross the girls all had skirts and high heels at least... RE: Supped Up Powerful Gundams: The Gundams in OO are more powerful perhaps, but for me, it's not the literal power that is bothersome, but the LOOK. In Seed and Destiny, there were like forty spiky wing things protruding all over the place, the swords were six times the length of the Gundam, the Gunds were also "really big" and it just seemed that everything had to be uber-cool-awesomely exaggerated in terms of design. Gundam OO doesn't make this mistake - it does not grate the eye. All of the mobile suits are fairly humble in how they look; and this makes their power all the more awe inspiring. Although - I'm mainly talking out of my bungaloo now because I haven't seen any of SEED or Destiny (just looked at the kits) and have seen very little OO... so these are all just impressions which might be completely wrong. Finally - remind me...what is jailbait? Pete

Hi Welcome to the forum. Your topic title is a little chaotic, because your question is broadly about where to buy Yamato/Macross products, and not just about bootlegs. I would suggest editing the topic title to "question on buying Macross stuff" or something and recommend the mods move this thread to the appropriate topic location (aka - I think we have a general "where to buy Macross products" thread/topic location). But here's an attempt to answer: 1) I recommend that you check out the 1/60 version 2 from Yamato. The version 1 - while it was great many years ago - has been surpassed by the 1/48 and 1/60 VF-1s. Check out our discussion of the version 2 1/60 which is at the top of the charts in the toy thread, and use the search function to find the discussion about the 1/48. 2) I haven't heard of bootlegged Yamato Macross products - at least not "accurate" looking ones. There are plenty of bootlegs of Macross however. 3) I personally recommend against using ebay; particularly for high priced goods such as Yamato. Also, remember that your country might charge tarrifs and other fees on top of what you pay in shipping and for the product itself. However, if you are determined; you can check the For Sale Section - where there is a blacklist where people have listed some ebay sellers they had trouble with. Hope you enjoy Macross world - it's a great place to be... Just check Robotech a the door please Pete

Well, I'm glad Bri has something good to say about Seed Destiny - since I do have that Force Impulse Gundam whining "build me, build me!" and I always tell him "shut up! You're from a lame series - or so they have said"... but if it's just like MSG, only with uber-supped up Mecha then... I guess it COULD be ok - although I was never a big fan of uber-supa Mecha... Although Force Impulse doesn't look all that bad... Anyhow - I'm just now building HG um...oh...um...HG..um...uh...Sniper-man Gundam...sorry - I literaly totally forgot what it was called...the green sniper one - I have the box like - five feet away but the lights are dim and my butt is too lazy to go check...in any event - 00 Sniper Green Gundam. So far so good - I'm liking this guy lots. The High Grades are really swift and easy to build... that and I figured I SHOULD complete all o the Celestial Being Gundams, since I've already got 2.5 done ("0.5" being Nadleeh/Naked Virtue).... After that...who knows - maybe inspired by Bri, I'll build MG Seed Destiny... either thant or I'll build Charr's Zaku - watching MSG is inspiring me to really come to like Charr. I like his tenacity, his skill, his political/Machiavellian intelligence and his sense of distance and calm. The only thing I don't like about him is his total lack of interest in women and his silly face mask. Pete

Well - yes - I do agree that Mr. Bright (I love how they call him that!) is actually one of the best leader figures I've ever seen in just about any show. And your theory as to why there are only children and old people sounds pretty logical. But this STILL doesn't change the fact that a couple of hot singing lasses would go a long way to make life bearable. Also - another difference between Gundam and Macross: Macross gives us nude Minmey shower scene while Gundam gives us... nude Charr shower scene. Tomino couldn't have made this show more depressing if he had tried (aka: All hot girls and middle generation is DEAD. Only whiney kids and even whinier old folk are alive, and the only erotic scenes will be of a blond Zeon pilot showering with the door partially open while his very close girly-man friend waits for him nearby, playing with a lock of his clearly blow-dried hairdo...). Truly a DARK DARK vision of human existence.... Pete

I have to agree with Kieth on this one. Maybe I watched a bad translation, but I'm fairly sure that on several occasions Rossiu calls him "father." Also - not only the big forhead and nasty priestly way, but the way Rossiu looks as an old man (very much like the leader) suggest it. In any event, the episode where Rossiu goes back to commit suicide in the village where he was born and the two reunite sure looks like a father/son reuniting to me. Pete

So...more impressions of the Mobile Suit Gundam series as I watch it... Mobile Suit Gundam is what happens when you ONLY rescue people from the old folks home and an orphanage and forget to bring lots of cute hot young girls who sing and giggle with you into space. Seriously - I just couldn't help but notice how depressed the civilians on the White Horse are compared to the citizens of the Macross. In both cases, provisions were nearly non-existent and supplies were short; and yet the civilians on the Macross decided to try and rebuild civilization and it blossomed due to the effort. Granted, the civilians on the White Horse have a much shorter journey, and I understand their frustrations, what with them pretty much flying around Earth and apparently being unable to get into Federation space (which brings me to the question - just exactly how BIG is Zeon Earth space? The white horse isn't exactly ...you know - slow - and a commercial jetliner can make it to the other side of the world within about 24 hours... But anyways - I digress. Every time they show civilians, they are old people with crusty faces, no food, bandages and lying in bed hopeless. That, or griping and making demands of Mr. Bright. What a difference when compared to the Macross civilians. So remember kids: If you are going to get stranded in space on a big space ship while chased by enemy space ships in all out horrible war: DO NOT FORGET TO BRING HOT GIRLS WHO CAN SING. Pete

Well thank you Vifam and Gubaba for the advise. I'm too far down the road of the MSG series to turn back now, so once I finish it, I will hopefully move on quickly to ZETA. And am I to understand that 0079 was only a movie? There is no seperate series by that name? In any event - I was hoping for something very representative of Tomino at his best - classic Tomino at his best. Pesonally, I've always been drawn to Turn-A Gundam - mainly because I LOVE the design of the Gundam, but I figured it would be bad to start there since from what I have read, the series really stands out as completely different from other Gundam series... so... yeah... As for the aesthetic of the fighters in the original show - I actually like it. If you think about it - Ideon's component parts look pretty "ridiculous" too - but the thing still has the power to destroy the universe... I guess I just have this thing where I love 70s mecha, 80s comic books, 90s porn...oh wait... Pete

All this talk of panties has made me come up with another wonderful idea... I have always harped on how Bandai should include a ranka figure with Mikhael's VF-25 and have the atual fight have a sound system whereby you press a button to activate disco lights and Ranka's song... Now - I think Yamato could counter that my including panties with their VF-1s. Our respective wives girlfriends could benefit from every valkyrie we buy and - if Yamato is really imaginative with the panty designs - we could benefit too Pete

Hard to say really... when I was a kid, I mainly watched the American cartoon lineup like Transformers, GI Joe, TMNT, Spiderman and Friends, Ghostbusters - stuff like that. I don't consider those to be anime... So - truth be told - I can't really remember watching anime proper until I was practically in college - and cartoon network came about... I then remember watching: Tenchi Muyo Starblazers Gundam Wing Although - I only remember the series VERY VAGUELY. I am a late comer Pete

One big flaw in the movie plot was that it was never explained why/how the Macross left Earth and why/how the civilian population came to be aboard and from where/why they are trying to return to Earth. That is a big big failure in the plot. Minmey just says at the beginning that it's been six months since they "left" Earth... One could get the impression that the Macross was an Ark like vessel that fled Earth as it was coming under alien attack... Also - another issue... In SDFM TV, the Zendradi are after the reaction weaponry on the Macross. Here, they seem to initially just want to destroy the Macross (although the aim of their pursuit is never explained), but then switch to suddenly wanting to use the power of Song as a weapon? So - instead of Reaction weaponry - am I to understand that the Zendradi pursued the Macross in the hopes of securing the powerful protoculture weapon that was song? And why did Boldoza think that Minmey's singing would effect a surrender from the Meltrans but not pacify his own forces? Also - why was he so quick to just give up on that plan and annihilate Lamplitz? And why did he create a second front by attacking the Macross and the Island? Also - if there was peace between Boldoza and the Macross; and Minmey was "missing" and the lyrics were "not ready yet" - then couldn't Boldoza have just - you know - CALLED the Macross and said "hey - where's Minmey? Why aren't the lyrics done yet?" The Zendradi knew enough about diplomatic protocol to send those three envoys to negotiate a peace - so...why couldn't they follow through? It just seems that they could have ironed out some of these plot points better.... Pete

Well, having finished Toppa Tengen Gurren Lagann, I decided to finally have a go and waid deep into the world of Gundam. I really wanted to watch a Tomino piece; and was considering Ideon, but since I have so many Gundam models built and needed some inspiration to build more.... I've started watching the original Mobile Suit Gundam. At the same time, I am also watching Gundam OO.... What strikes me about Mobile Suit Gundam so far is just how relentlessly it is a WAR STORY. There's really no romance, no love, no fantasy, not even much politics (at least not yet - we don't really know WHY Side 7 declared Independence, and beyond different wacky uniforms and green vs. red/blue/white ships, nothing really distinguishes Zeons from the Federation. In fact, I don't really understand why the Zeons even have a territory on...Earth... are they leading a Federation wide grab for power stretching beyond their one solar colony? Beats me. Nothing much makes sense in terms of the politics - and the focus so far is on the escape/journey of the White Horse. In this respect, I certainly prefer Gundam OO, where at least the war has a CAUSE (energy) and the politics of it are played out more openly - which in no way interferes with the personal stories of the characters. On the other hand - what IS good about Mobile Suit Gundam is that it LACKS any sort of idealism. In Gundam OO, high idealism starts from the name of the Gundam team ("Celestial Being" aka God/aka some great good/aka highest ideal) and goes all the way down to their purpose (end all war) and any tensions in the plot stem from the clash of this idealism with bitter reality (the paradox of trying to end war through war etc). Meanwhile, Mobile Suit Gundam can be summed up by the narrative at the end of each episode: "WHO WILL SURVIVE?!" And that's it. It's just people doing everything possible to blow one another up - so consumed by this immense conflict that it seems that they can't see anything beyond either the need to destroy their enemies or the need to survive. So far, Char is the most compelling character - and, along with Amaro, I too would like to know "just what kind of man is he?" As for Gundam OO... well... none of the characters are very memorable so far. So - it's a mixed bag. We'll see what I think at the end. But I guess the basic story of Gundam - as far as I can tell is: Warfare, only in robots rather than tanks and jets. I think I'll watch ideon once I'm done with these, but I am curious as to how they'll go since I've read so much about Tomino's work (well, relatively) and have only now begun to taste it. Pete

I can understand people's frustration with broken Yamatos- the idea of "oh well hey - just go out and spend hundreds of dollars on multiples because chances are only 1 out of 4 will break" doesn't necessarily appeal to everyone. The only way I can maybe try to make the argument is thus: Think of all the money you must spend on girls before you get lucky and find the right one? All the drinks you have to buy, all of the time and effort you have to waste, all of the clothes you have to buy her - and yourself (because she thinks they look great), all of the dinners you have to pay for, the movies, the trips, the vacations... And often times, it turns out that not every girl was worth the effort. BUT if you hadn't gone through the effort, if you hadn't "wasted" your time and money - you probably would not have ended up with the right girl in the end - you wouldn't have learned how to handle women, you wouldn't have learned how to pace yourself, how to even enjoy the process of spending, and how to be more selective in your spending. It's the same with Yamato Valkyrie. Keep buying - eventually you'll land the right one Pete

It's my Eastern European decent I'm always the tall guy with the cheap second hand suit and unwashed teeth at the party who has the gall to tell you that while your wife looks like my grandmother's anus, your twelve year old sister has the ass-hole of a seven year old boy and therefore looks just lovely. Damn - been watching too much Borat again Although in all seriousness - I really never found Milia compelling; as a woman or as a character. In a way though; she is tailor made for Max - the perfect couple. They do better in Macross 7 as characters - but not by much - and Milia's hair in Macross 7 is just completely wrong. And she dresses like your stereotypical "Aunt Gurtrude" ... hmm... jeez... I'm really down on her As for Photoshoped Alto... yes - he looks great when you touch him up like that... the shoulders don't bother me - actually - nothing in the mold bothers me very much - not like Ozma's lasers (which are a real downer) Pete

No. As for Bilar and Britai - unlikely and unnecessary. Besides. Bretai, like Miria, was numbered; so one presumes there were many clones of that particular "sample" - just like the advisor/Exodol model... Pete

Well - memorable quotes are always memorable because of context. So here are the most moving quotes that alwas brought me to tears and tugged at the heart: "I sing for you Sarah, because no one else does." Shin Kudo, Macross Zero "To find a sound that will be more poerful than missiles!" Neki Bassara, Macross 7 "What's more important to you: your life, or your hair?" Hikaru Ichijo to Minmey, SDF Macross There are more... Pete

Yes - nice to see so many "new" people suddenly sounding off I agree about the shortcoming of the movie via the series - but it's kind of like comparing a book to a movie version - if you really love the material and the psychological drama, then the format which drew it out is going to be more appealing... umm... but a couple of questions I've been mulling over: 1) Did Misa and Hikaru make love inthe Protoculture city? I ask because to my mind, this is very very much the suggestion for a few reasons: the scene fades to black as they embrace and kiss and re-opens with Misa zipping up her flight suit the next day as they both come out of the Protoculture home. Now, you COULD of course postulate that they slept there just like they slept in the tent - each in a seperate bed and that they just happened to be getting out now as they heard what would turn out to be the Macross BUT... a) I think given how they became very close the evening before this is highly doubt-worthy b) they behaved like two lovers - they kissed again and embraced when they saw the Macross - and it wasn't the "oh how happy we are to see the Macross" type embrace - it was more of the "we're in love and now we're also saved" type of thing c) Minmey says she doesn't "know" and at the same time doesn't "care" what happened between Misa and Hikaru on the island - but she "still" loves Hikaru. This is the kind of thing a girl tells a guy who she knows has slept with another woman. d) Hikaru is REALLY dead set on Misa - and it seems to me that, given how young he is and his somewhat devoted character - he would be dead set on Misa. Minmey was "just acting" when she kissed him - and when Hikaru suggested they go to a hotel she took him for...a hamburger instead. Misa basically melted in his arms and made him feel needed and then - if my hunch is correct - gave herself to him in an explicitly sexual manner. This may sound "crass" (although I don't think it is) - but it's no wonder Hikaru chooses Misa - Misa makes him feel like a man and is basically a woman who goes to pieces and needs his strenght + she puts out. Minmey MIGHT be in love with Hikaru - but she never put out - ergo - she made a big mistake, because Misa has made a rather lasting impression on our young hero - one that will tie him to her emotionally in a very very strong way. A way that simply won't let him be with any other girl. Point? My theory is that Hikaru basically chooses Misa because she makes love to him, while Minmey DOESN'T. given how young Hikaru is, and how un-suave he is with women - this very intimate act by Misa would be enough to lock him into a very strong emotional relationship with her - which is not to say that it's random of course; but I would suspect that if after everything they went through Misa DIDN'T make love to Hikaru that night - then, upon being reunited with Minmey, Hikaru would not feel so passionately that he wants to be with Misa; that he is indebted to Misa... That he would actually authentically HURT her if - after what she gave him and showed him in terms of both emotions and physical closeness - he were to just say "oh too bad - I'm off to flirt with Minmey." What do people think? Pete

Graham wrote that Yamato told him they recieved no news from Japanese customers about any breakages. I imagine that part of the reason might be that, if something breaks, a Japanese customer can just order a new part for fairly cheap; and the hassel of complaining to Yamato is greater than the cheapness of just acquiring a new part. Actually - I think it has more to do with the design than with the production process. If you want perfect, sleek valkyrie, then the design lends itself towards fragility. The version 2.0 is a HUGE STEP FORWARD in durability. I can't see how anyone who has handled it can say otherwise. It is very very durable and very tough. This doesn't mean it's still not delicate, but it's miles ahead of previous Yamato products - and certainly miles ahead in durability when compared to other 1/60 scale Yamatos (like the Mac Plus and Zero figures). I don't feel like I'm stupid. I have about 10 or 15 (have to go and count) Yamato valkyrie and I am very very satisfied with all of them. The v.2 1/60 is the most durable to date, and certainly the best VF-1 produced to date. As for Bandai' 1/144 Zeta Gundam ... what is wrong with it? I don't have it, but I do have OO 1/144s and they seem quite tough to me. Yamato have always had great products. The version 1.0 1/60 was great because it aimed at anime accuracy and a sleak design instead of submiting to the "must be chunky" theory of figure building. It was the first serious attempt to make a transformable and anime accurate variable valkyrie fighter and for its' time it was great. the 1/48s achieved perfect transformation and are perfectly durable. The v.2 1/60 VF-1 improved on them in terms of design aesthetic, sculpt, durability, and play-value (removable cockpit etc). Also, they are finally being sold as sets with super and strike parts. As for the YF-19 and YF-21 (but especially the YF-19) - Please. How can you say that the company has not improved its products. Compared the 1/60 YF-19 to the 1/72 version. If that's not an improvement - then I don't know what is. Pete

Good point; sort of. But independent of whether you prefer panties or not (personally for me it depends on the situation), panties ARE a Macross Tradition - heck, Macross Frontier even gives panties a starring role for one WHOLE episode So, Macross without panties just wouldn't be the same... PS: Wicked Ace - those pics of Alto DX make me sleep better at night. Too bad nobody has put up pics of straightened laser ozma... Pete

I went through this problem until I realized something: The VF-1 will ALWAYS tower over the Macross model. Why? Because there's no way it can't. No matter how you scale the Macross, unless you make it the size of your house, the VF-1 will always look huge compared to it. But, once you have it, you will notice that in fact, the model is so precise and wonderfully detailed and well made, that sticking it in the background makes it just look like it's far away. The box is lovely, with screen grabs from DYRL, and the stand is great - with the UN Spacey kite design and everything. ARMD-1 and 2 are detachable and can function on their own as crafts. And no where does it say that if you buy the SDF-1, then you will have to give up buying a VF-1. So you might have to wait a bit longer to purchase your next one... big deal. Just think of the last non-Macross related thing that you blew that kind of money on - booze, dinner with a girl/wife? Refrain from these unimportant things for a couple of weeks or a month or two and just do it. You will feel better. The box is really nice. It's packed in styrophone and it is very well done. Pete

Ah - that explains why I found the ass so out of place and ultimately unappealing... I never found Millia attractive. She's just "too perfect" in terms of her looks. She's the type of woman that is so perfect that she's boring. There is nothing erotic in her - but then again, this might be on account of her Meltran heritage. Although - not completely. Heck, Klan-Klan managed to look cute sometimes. Millia just actually suffers from an accute lack of femininity and fashion sense. The one time she looked passable was when Max showed her off to Hikaru; having dressed her up "very lady like." I'm not saying she's ugly; she is a beautiful woman - but she's like the girls you see in shampoo commercials or on billboards: they fit the ad - all of the numbers match up and there is nothing "wrong" with them - but they all melt into one another and ultimately you remember the shampoo, but not the girl. It's the same with Milia - you remember the Quid Rau, but not the woman. And I still say Misa wouldn't wear green panties. She might be a Minx, but what would the panties match? Although -hmm...she does have green eyes...hmm..so yeah - ok - green panties with a nice green bra would look good on her after all. It's just the flight suit top which throws me off I guess - and the fact that that's not her ass... So - why does Milia get her ass sculpted but Misa doesn't? Pete

There's a simple solution to this problem: 1. Throw all reason to the wind and go by the Wave SDF-1 now before it's too late. I felt the exact same way as you did until it suddenly went out of stock everywhere and I felt the following: "Oh man - there's not going to be a nice Macross figure available forever and I'm gonna never have one I should have bought it" - and so I found it and got it and guess what?... You forget really really quickly that it cost so much and all that remains is the happy feeling that you have it. 2. Once you've got it then spending the equivalent on the Bandai Quarter won't be so hard Pete

I personally respectfully disagree. I have always been very moved when I would read about soldiers who were terribly wounded and acted bravely and heroically and ended up with a Purple Heart and a job a Wendy's at best. I understand why the military doesn't dish out awards left and right, since most of the top awards are given to the deceased and when you read what they did you realize why, but still - plenty of living heros to go around. Independent of your political views and your view of Bush I or II, Bush I was a decorated pilot who was very heroic and I think it is fitting that he is getting an aircraft carrier named for him while he is still alive. I see it as having less to do with him being President once and more to do with him being a pilot hero two generations before most of us were even born. If you think about it that's pretty amazing. Also, he never made any pretense of bragging about it; he never ran on his record as a veteren, and I don't really ever remember him bringing up his service. In this day and age, when everybody seems to be doing everything to pretend how tough and bad-ass they are, people like Bush I who don't wear their service on their sleave and don't brag about it but just have done heroic things are really cool - again - independent of your political views. I'm not trying to bring politics into this, but comments like the "apeface war criminal" one are totally out of line and terrible. And it's not just because - as Agent One pointed out - there are fans of both Bushes on the board. I'm not a fan of either one. My politics are as far from both of them as you can get. But I hve huge respect for veterens (no matter what party they are from) and I think that if you're going to level a charge of "war crime" against somebody, then you really should not do it in the same breath as calling them an "ape face" - it completely dilutes from any legitimacy you might have to your view. I would say more, but I don't want to go too far out of the bounds of what's allowed and get Azreal mad at me. But there, I felt like I had to get that much off my chest. Pete

Not surprising - as nice an ass as it is, it kind of doesn't look like Misa's - and she would NEVER wear GREEN panties. Pete