VFTF1

Because I'm not region one and buying Gurren Lagann on DVD in Europe costs 100 GBP - which is like 150 USD ... for 27 episodes of an anime I'll probably save up for it and buy it anyways... but the price just blows... And I just took a look at my GL Revoltechs....and I'm not pleased with them either actually... Grouchy Pete

Has anybody built the MG Victory Gundam? I've taken the first step - namely taking all the trays out of the box I am thinking of perhaps displaying it with the alternate head ...can someone familiar with the series explain to me exactly what that alternate head signifies? Pete

It could nothing, but it's something to ponder... Namely - in casual conversation a question was brought up about Transformers 4 being Transformers 1 version 2.0 ... That is to say - perhaps they'll reboot the franchise like they did with Spiderman after 3..or are doing with Spiderman after 3 ? (sorry, I don't really follow this stuff that much).... For me, personally, those Marvel Comics collected books were enough - with all the old original stories.... not that I own any... but I did enjoy reading them in air conditioned book stores one really hot summer in NYC... Pete

I go away for a while and what do I find upon returning? Seto has turned into what appears to be a sour orange the things this thread does to people... Pete

Thanks, But for now I'm trying to burn the series onto DVDs :-) Pete

Well in all fairness - I don't know what people expected. I mean - it's a version KA - which as I understand it means Katoki - which further means "I'm going take this mecha and re-image it to give it a heafty, industrial 'realistic' feel." I didn't like what Katoki did to the RX-78-2, so obviously I wasn't expecting to like the take on Gurren Lagann... or am I wrong, an does KA stand for something totally different here? In any event - I'm not sake all KAs suck - I like the Unicorn KA and am probably going to build Victory KA .... but then again, there's never been a Unicorn anime - and I'm presuming the new one uses the KA design anyways. Meanwhile, I've never seen Victory, so I don't have a frame of reference etched into my mind. With Gurren Lagann - it's supposed to be wild, zanny, crazzy and improbably dynamic. This thing looks like it was modeled after Kotobukiya's Plane Model Gurren Lagann and given bendable knees and a couple of accesories, not to mention a shiny paint job and relatively big drill. But it totally lacks dynamism - it just doesn't have any thrill in it. And I think the poses you see in the promo pics are the full extent of what it can do - which isn't much, because look at how you can't pose the feet when the knees are beant - and it doesn't come with a stand anyways - so you won't be able to do its' signature ONE "dynamic" pose anyways without some sort of outside support. Then again, I read somewhere that metal composites weren't very poseable anyways - like the GFF Unicorn....? I dunno. In any case - this one is an easy pass. It's also a dissapointment, because yes - a nice big heafty Gurren Lagann would be nice. But in the meantime - Kaiyodo's stuff isn't just adequate - it's really awesome .I mean - they put some real effort into their GL figures. Especially Gurren + Lagann. Lagann is so small yet so wonderfully poseable, with interchangeable faces, drill-arms and his signature "bullet drill" mode. Really excellent work. Bandai didn't put any effort into this. Pete

I'm not excited about the KA Metal Composite Gurren Lagann. Not only do the tatoos bother me, but also two points: 1) Poseability - or rather lack there-of. 2) Somewhat related.... this figure lacks any hint of insane dynamism. The Kaiyodo Revoltechs are at least extremely dynamic. Usually, I don't like Revoltechs - I prefer bigger heaftier versions... but in the case of Gurren Lagann... it's hard to find anything beyond Kaiyodo that does some real justice to the mecha... Pete

Well, I can't access the SBS Dateline clip for some reason - but going by everyone's comments, I kind-of-sort-of intuit what it had to say and will comment on the comments more than on the SBS clip itself (since I can't watch it)... I think it's important not to jump to the conclusion that the anime industry is dying, when "dying industry" can be used to describe the economic condition of not only the majority of companies on the market - but the market itself...and even COUNTRIES. I mean - when Europe and the USA - in terms of national governments - are facing sovieregn debt crisises.... how can you center on one industry and say it's dying? The fact is that there has been NO improvement in the economy, whether in the US, or globally. The data just doesn't show it. So the growth of the unemployment rate in the USA slowed last quarter - big deal. It slowed by pretty much the same amount of people it takes the government to hire on a temp basis to conduct the sensus. Miniscule fluctuations don't matter. The fundamentals matter - and the fundamentals all SUCK. So - to suddenly look at an industry and say - well - demand for this is or has evaporated... that's not quite correct. If this were happening during the boom years, then there would be cause for alarm regarding the viability of the anime industry. But as such - when you're in a depression: guess what? Everything is depressed! No matter what industry you look at - things will be going badly in one way or another. People don't have the disposable incomes to spend on this stuff anymore. Prices have been slashed to the point where companies wonder whether it makes any sense to produce anything any more. Nobody is hot to invest - everyone is hesistent and consumers just don't have the etra funds to put into this stuff....All points which people have made above. But is the anime industry in trouble because the whole world is in trouble, or is it just that the anime industry is in trouble? In my view - there's nothing structurally unsound about the anime industry - no amount of tinkering can "fix" it because it's not broken. The economy is trash and the economy is broken. Fix the economy and the anime industry - like almost all other industries - will be fixed. I don't believe that people are just spontaneously no longer interested in anime and in buying anime related goods. So no - IMO - anime is not dying. But then again...is there a transcript of this SBS thing? Or can someone sum up what they're saying? Because maybe I'm fighting windmills again.... Pete

I've had ASOS brigades adventures up on my store website for two months (not there now). But as with everything else in Poland, getting people here into Haruhism is extremely hard. Then again, 4 years ago nobody here liked Gundam and Macross either - that's changed. But Haruhi will be difficult mainly because, beyond the moe reputation - there is also the "problem" that there are no giant transforming robots (although there is a space ship battle)... Anyways, I remember the one anime convention I went to here (with my SOS-dan t-shirt), I heard from one dude that I'd be very popular in France. That was disheartening, since the basic premise was "people here are too dense to like Haruhi." But then again, there WAS a girl cosplaying Haruhi Suzumiya :-) Sometimes - that's enough Pete Now Returning to the Obscurity of Non-Posting for a little while longer

Wait - I'm gone like a week and Pizza the Hut is already banned from Macrossworld!? Pete

So here's a question: Do you think Robotech would have been better off if Shadow Chronicles had never been made ? Pete

I don't actually take any drugs, you see. At least not real ones. In fact, the reasoning behind my posts is simple to discern when you bear in mind that I belong to an intellectua elite from the planet Neptune. We are plotting to overthrowthe rulers of Pluto, who come from the nether regions of Uptar. Now - this all sounds very far fetched - but in reality it is not true. I am not really here. That is - I am - when I go to the gym - as the pictures showed in the other thread. But beyond that - I'm not. Pete

Thanks - if I were a G1 Transformer with a techspec card - that would be my motto! I'm scheduled to go work out on Monday - so I'll aim for 70 - even if I manage only two lifts! Pete

That depends on how you measure "strength." I can certainly lift heavier weights now than when I started out. But then again - I can't bench press beyond 60 kilograms for now...although...I haven't actually TRIED to go beyond 60 kilograms either...and maybe I could do it - but I'd probably be able to lift 70 kilograms like 2 times... I usually go for at least 8. On this machine: When I started out on that thing - I could barely do 20-30 kilos. Now I can easily put it at 100 kilos and do 8 of these. On most of the other machines I can do 50 kilos or over. When I started out it was more like 15-30. So in that sense I guess I am getting stronger. I also definitely FEEL stronger, and generally feel better. I used to constantly get sick - small stuff - fevers, colds, runny nose, sore throat.... ever since I started working out all of that is history. I just don't get sick any more. I'm resilient against cold weather, rain - whatever. Also, before I started working out I felt really lethargic. I mean - like joints would hurt when I got up out of a chair, and I'd be short of breath all the time - partially from smoking, but mainly from never moving except to eat or smoke. And when I had to walk somewhere it would be like killer... Then again, some of the better health is no doubt also due to having a car - riding the bus and the metro sounds nifty, except in a northern cold country during the winter when you stand at the bus stop freezing your butt off waiting... having a car basically means I'm not exposed to radical temperature fluctuations... So...over all I do feel stronger and I guess given that I am able to life heavier weights now than 8 months ago - I am stronger... I think Pete

But...I didn't buy her. I just looked at the back of the box... my rant was based on that. No point actually purchasing it Pete Edit: Ok...I did write "picked up" ... which I guess has come to mean "bought" ... but I was using the phrase literally. I picked up the carded toy and looked it over

Well this isn't surprising. As time passes, this film becomes a bigger and bigger pile of garbage. So sad given how pleased I was with the first one... Pete

No - I'm serious. I mean - look at Devito. He's al hairy and if you but him in some rags and gave him a mace he'd look like your average barbarian. Besides - we're talking like thousands of years ago, right? I mean - historically speaking people were a lot shorter way back before the development of modern plumbing and basic hygene - so actually Devito would fit the part. Yeah - I kinda don't believe that you sleep 3 hours a day. I did that for a week in high school when I was like 15, and I slept straight through 48 hours. I remember getting up on Monday thinking it was Sunday and being surprised I had to go to class. I think it's impossible to live, let alone work out, on 3 hours of sleep per night I always cringe when I read or hear "lifting properly" because it makes me scared that I'm doing something wrong I do get proper rest, though. As for being hungry more often... I'm generally a brunch/dinner person. I tend not to be able to eat large breakfasts - yogurt, juice, water. If I feel like I need it, I will get a coffee at the gas station - but that is only really necessary once a week when I have to be somewhere at 10 am (ok, stop throwing rocks at me all you people who have to be somewhere at 8, I know this sounds lame!) Anyways...yeah... the thing with Devito as Conana is that if they're going to make a RADICAL departure from Arnold, then instead of the metrosexual boy toy, they could experiment with "historical Conan" - like what would a "real" barbarian from that time period look like? The only problem with Devito now is that he's like 70 and probably wouldn't be fit for the part anyways... Back when they made Twins, they could have made Conan 3 starring Devito as Arnold's Barbaric side kick, kind of like that oger named Toady from the Gummy Bears... Pete

Exactly. It is seriously beyond me why anyone would have any furthering questons after my equator based on logical. SETO KAIBO WHY YOU CANT JUST GO AWAY? LOOK IN YOUR DUMB NUMBERS IS NOT ANY EQUATORS!! EXAMPLE - ANGLE-SLACC COLON SHIP IS YOU SAYING 2,140M....OK... WHAT IS M!?!? YOU SEE TROUBLE HERE - HOW CAN YOU USE CALCULATORING TO FIND M WITHOUT EQUATOR?! WHAT MEAN 2,140M? MEANS TIMES - LIKE MULTIPLY BUT WHAT IS ME?! AL NUMBERS YOU ARE GIVING HAS THIS LETERS SOMETIMES B UT NOT POSSIBLE WITH 1 NOWN AND 1 NOT-NOWN TO MAKE NOWN THE NOT NOWN. MAYBE LEAVE MATH TO PEOPE WHO HAE THE MASTERS DEGREE EH? AND JASONC - YOUR QUESTION "0.83 WHAT? ' JUST SO TYPICAL FOR SHOWING MAV LSC POINT: ROBOTECH MAKE TO PEOPLE WHO HAS AT LEAST MASTER DEGREE!! I SWEARING HOW IS YOU GUYS SUPOSED TO NOWING WHEN IT NEEDS I EXPLAINING ALL THE TIMES?! LOOK - TO ANSWER QUESTION OF "WHAT 0,93" YOU NEEDS TO HAVE A NOTHER EQATOR. SO: .083 X [X] = ANSWER BUT HerE havING HAS X BEING "WHAT" FROM JASONC. OK. SO - WE KNOWING THAT ANSWER HAVING 1 2 3 4...6 LETTERS SO 08.3 X [X] =6 NOW WE HAVING ONLY ONE UNNOWING ARIABLE X. SO 6/09.3 = X NOW USING CALCUOATOR: 72 SO ANSWER JASONC IS: 0.83 SEVENTY TWOS!! DUH! PETE

You guys might want to google Dumb as a Blog and go to the criminals section. I stumbled upon it via CNN a couple days ago and spent most of the day LMAO. Really really funny stuff. Pete

I think that the SDF-25 Mecha Tournament shows us ONE key point about Robotech: The POWER!! of a Mecha is decided by its' color. Otherwise, why the flip would it matter to specify that a certain veritech is "blue" or "green" ? Or is it that beyond a different color, they also have slightly different capabilities? In either event, somebody needs to send them a C&D. Harmony Gold does at least have one good thing about it - it constantly SHUTS DOWN any attempts at Robotech fandom Pete

Hey Snail - your story sounds somewhat closer to mine than the God-Hood of Agent1 that we can only aspire to. Agent1 must just have a lot of will power. My only advise to you from my meager experience would be to stay consistent and at least keep going back to the gym regularly. The thing is that sometimes you will eat healthier, and sometimes you won't. You'll have good weeks and bad weeks. But no matter what you do, IF you stop going to the gym on a regular basis - everything will be worse. A few years back, I had the "moments" when I would start working out and feel great after a month and just stop going to the gym because "I feel great." And while working out I'd go for two or three hours and yeah, man would I be sore all over. Nowadays, for the last year, I'd finally managed to go regularly. At LEAST once a week, sometimes two. Sure, there's been a couple times where for various reasons I missed a week and went after 10 and not 7 days - but the key is to keep going back. What kind of pisses me off - at least here in Warsaw - is that it's impossible to find anybody who would qualify as a good trainer. That is to say - there is a lot of BS out there - and gyms seem very inclined to take your money in exchange for a personal trainer/dietetician... but so far I haven't found anywhere that makes me feel comfortable - mainly because they want your money first and THEN they'll tell you all the secrets to being healthy and working out. So my solution has just been to take the normal, beginners route and learn for myself - mainly by just feeling my way. Figuring out what all the machines do, trying them out, going by what I can visually see. I've tried recently to stop eating Macdonalds in favor of Subway. But Warsaw has like only 2 Subways - so I have to make a special effort to get there. But I always liked eating. And up until I turned 30 I had a super fast metabolism - so I could eat zillions of things and all my girlfriends would complain that I'm too skinny anyways. I was pretty amazed to hear my last girlfriend start up with the "you're too fat" complaint - because it was the first time in my life when someone told me that. But I guess that's age for ya... Anyways... ultimately in my view it all comes down to how you feel. The difference in how you feel is extreme between when you don't go to the gym regularly and when you do. And just keep diversifying your routine - because I think the muscles are quick to become accustomed to certain weights and movements - if you repeat them too often - you're screwed - your muscles won't grow and they'll become tense and inflexible. I try to vary things. Sometimes I go in and light heavy weights in low quantities. Sometimes I come in and lift lighter weights in higher quantities. I have found I like working on my legs - don't neglect those in favor of bicepts. There are guys with huge bicepts that rival only their gutts in girth - that's no good. I try to be lean and wholistic in my approach. Everything needs to generally be proportional. The hardest thing to do is lose any potbelly, let alone develop a sixpack. I have come close to loosing any signs of a belly - but really working on the abbs and mid-body seems to be the most daunting challenge. Not nearly as easy to sculpt as the rest. And I still say Danny Devito should play Conan. Pete

Well - don't worry. I've made a graph and conjugulated some mathematical equators together to help you out. I can't show you the graph for now, but I'll happily give you the acquatics. Here they go: If you look at the word SDF-1 then you notice it is more than one word. S is for Super but super in latin also means "over" and D is for Dimmensional and we all know that this means it's not 2-D, and F is for Fortress which again if you look at the latin root is like "strong." Then you have the number "1" which certainly comes after zero but is before 2. So - taking this knowledge we have let's extrapolate the equator: what is over a dimmension that is strong and higher than zero but lower than two? Or in the language of mathematics: [X < 3D > 0 < 2.0] Given that the newtonic jewels of gravity are somewhere between zero and more than zero and the circumfrence of the inference from the vector of the center of the universe to the sun is also a number, then it becomes clear we need to solve for D before being able to solve for X. So what is D? Well - Dimmensions are usually a bunch of boxes drawn together and portrayed in a vector - kind of like the opening to the original G1 Transformers show or what we saw in old atari games. But those were "2D" - now - if those were "2D" then to get 3D we know we need to add 1 (because to get three from 2 you need to add 1). But what are we adding? Well - we're adding "one D" And what is "D" ? D is the third letter in the alphabet, which has 26 letters (or was it 27?) Anyways -given that D is the third out of 26 (or 27?) letter then the mathematical definition of D is: 3/26 (assuming there aren't 27 letters in the alphabet). So - if D = 3/26 then let's plug that into our equator: [X < 3{3/26) > 0 < 2.0] So now it's all very simple. 3/26 = 0.1153846 and so forth and so on. Let's just simplize it it down to 0.11 Now we multiply 0.11 by 3 to get "3D" - and this gives us: 0.34. So: [X < 0.34 > 0 < 2.0] Now this is pretty simple - X is smaller than 0.34, which in turn is bigger than zero, which in turn is smaller than 2. So X lies between 0.34 and 2. So how do we know exactly where it is? Well we can average it out. What's the half way point between 0.34 and 2? Well 2 minus 0.34 is 1.66 Now what's half of that? 0.83 So there's the answer. The SDF-1 is 0.83 long. Pete

I was in some toy store a week ago and picked up an ROTF Arcee. Oh my god. It reminds me of the "Powermasters" from 1993 - the little non-poseable ones Staxx, Meanstreak, Bulletbike and Ironhide. The key difference is that those things were cheap and didn't pretend to be the pinacle of technology and engineering. These were pull back cars kind of like the Throttlebots - particularly when considering their poseability was roughly zero (although Ironhide was able to lift his arms, and I think Meanstreak could at least flail them from side to side). Arcee looks like a Deluxe version of that aesthetic. It just doesn't work at that price point and size. Icky poo. I think I'm going to start collecting G1 again - only this time I just need to stay away from anything that was made after I stopped being a little kid. Pete

Hm... "so-so" poseability is a bummer. I guess I'll stick with the Revoltechs I have. Kaiyodo is the only company that has apparently been good to Gurren Lagann. The "KA" thing could sort of be interesting, but then again I'm a sucker for anime accuracy - even if anime accurate means "lame 70s design with goofy colors" ... I didn't like the RX-78-2 KA version, prefering the v 2.0 which is lovely and looks like what I see in the Gundam anime. Anyways... I guess this thing will be a pass for me. Pete

Hm. As usual you epicly fail to get to the most important point. All of the stuff you write is interesting, but you have (deliberately?) ignored the most important part of my post! In fact, I think it's a disgrace that this thread is nearly 60 pages long and STILL none of you geniuses have figured out how long the SDF-1 is. Pete