VFTF1

But a Lego Macross line would necessarily have little round stubbs that say "lego" all over it. I admit that I'm not up to date with the very latest that lego is doing, but to my mind they are not making accurate, streamlined aerodynamic airplanes with complex transformations into mecha based off of the line art of an anime. In fact - lego have NO EXPERIENCE doing anything remotely close to what Yamato does. Clearly you do know a lot about Lego and you are capable of presenting a well easoned argument - kudos for that. But please note that, in my opinion, your comparisson not only ignores the economies of scale, that others mentioned earlier, but more fundamentaly, it presumes that just because a company is successful in doing one thing, then it can be successful doing other things without much effort. This isn't always the case. In fact, many large corporations - say Coca Cola - that branched out into different fields (suddenly purchasing film studios or what have you) ended up discovering that in the long term, ownership of such entities was a risky business and that their base occupation suffered because of it. This is why when new management was introduced, the first thing they did was to sell of the non-Cola related stuff and focus on the basic business. Of course, this is not a rule - there are companies which are adept at multi-tasking - sure. Perhaps if Lego were charged with making a Valkyrie, they would do a stellar job - perhaps. But I think you have to keep in mind that there is an opportunity cost for everything and also something called diminishing marginal returns. In theory, a company could try to do EVERYTHING better than anyone else. But in practice, it turns out that there will come a point where the cost of doing more is either that you do it worse or that you actually create less value for your company by doing it. If anything, it would make more sense to compare Yamato to something like Bandai or CMS - companies which do make transformable mecha that are based off of anime rather than saying that since lego can make an inaccurate stub-ladden vehicle and sell it for an amiable price, then this necessarily means that they can make Valkyrie and design things like the perfect transformation 1/48 or 1/60 v.2. Pete

De Culta!! You made me hungry!! I sooo want two cheesrburgers and super sized fries now!!! Damn you Yamato for making me fork over so much money that I can't even afford a cheesburger now! Pete

I'm getting old, cranky and nostalgic, and have been reading the trade paperback reissues of Marvel's Transformers: Generation 2... I also like Mauss - that's an American comic book. Hmm...what else? Oh - Darkhorse's Alien: Labirynth. I LOVED that and am deeply ashamed of loosing it. I have Alien: Rogue but it's no where near as good... DC comics - I have a trade paperback collecting the issues in which Robin is killed by the Joker - a good piece of work, although I am not a huge Batman fan. And last but not least - the only comic books to have survived in my collection...surprise surprise... The majority of all of the original issues of...The Nam. That was the best comic book that Marvel ever made - particularly the first 24-30 issues and the later issues. I am also kicking myself for not buying those lovely lovely collectors hardbacks and paperbacks of the classic Marvel Spiderman, Hulk, X-man etc etc last time I was in New York - but I did read them And dagg...were the awesome. Will have to pick them up. Pete

Ahhh... so this is why they don't impress'a'me much ooh ooh... (boing!) ...crap! Now I can't get that lousy tune out of my head ... Err...anyways - back to the DX 1/60... is there a reason why Alto and Ozma don't even get stands? I like stands, stands are a logica thing for airplane models/figures to have. Will Bandai be selling seperate stands? Pete

So you're saying that what you'd really prefer is that the VF-25 Shoji Kawamori built out of Lego be the final version that is sold to us? Pete

Everything Jasonc said is true - but also please remember one thing: When you say that a company is out to make money and not make stuff for you for free - you should follow it up with a simple question: how are they going to make money? The simple answer to that question is always the same: by providing something that people want at prices people are willing to pay, and doing so for costs that are lower. This goes for every company - and even the largest companies worth billions of dollars will vanish from the face of the Earth eventually if they aren't serving the needs of their customers in the long run. So it's not like this situation that Jasonc described is somehow bad for us. It's good. It's a situation in which other people are working day in and day out to make YOU happy - hoping that by doing so they'll make a buck. If there were a way to produce what Yamato is making and sell it for less - someone would be doing it now. If more people wanted Macross toys to the extent that huge production runs could off-set costs and lower the price - it would happen - because it would be profitable. And a final word - to re-iterate: when a company is making "insane" profits - those profits are a signal to the rest of the market - a signal which says: "hey look guys! Check out how much people are willing to fork over for X!" - and other companies will therefore have the incentive to enter that market in the hopes of capturing some of that profit share. So without excess profits people wouldn't know where to invest their time and resources - that is one of the results of profit; it tells us what is in demand and beneficial to do. I think it's legitamite to WANT cheaper Valkyrie and desire that they have better QC, durability and all that - we should not just silently accept anything dished out to us "just because." But at the same time, I think it's counter -productive to be voting in a poll about Yamato being greedy. Now I'm gonna be a little sentimental and say that I think it would hurt the feelings of Yamato people if they saw a poll like this and saw that the "too greedy" option was winning. Of course everyone has the right to their opinion - and the right to set up this kind of poll and express their opinion. But I think it would still make Yamato folks feel bad and not at all in a productive way. A thousand posts of "damn you Yamato my valkyrie sprung a leak because of your QC" are better than one poll like this. Griping about QC should encourage Yamato to do better and is an honorable legitamite gripe that they as a company need to take to heart. But calling them greedy - in my personal opinion - is not fair to the people who work there. Pete

THAT is cool Somebody should just give you a Valkyrie for Christmas Pete

Eugimon is right. Where I live, there was NO ELECTRICITY until...1968. 1968! There was electricity in London in the late 1800s! This place had no electricity until...1968. And the electricity would routinely die for weeks on end up until around 2005. Only now - for the past three years - has the electricy been working regularly, without fail. Also - there are no highways i my country. I remember Justice Stevens (US Supreme court) remarking that he still remembers America without highways, where you just had two lane rural roads everywhere. That's what I have here. In spite of this, people have cell phones, luxury cars, internet access and other modern goods and services. The explanation for why some things change very slowly while others progress and advance (like road infrastructure vs. cell phone technology) is actually quite simple: all you have to do is recognize who builds roads and owns roads vs. who builds cell phones, laptops and other trinkets... but I don't wanna get into that 'cause it's forbidden by the rules here As for how much money people make - we should always measure the value of per capita income relative to purchasing power in the given area rather than relative to your purchasing power where you live. The question is "what can they buy for that money?" and not "what could I buy, living where I live?" In Poland, there ar lots of Chinese immigrants working construction - they worked for about 13% of what a Polish person makes on average. I'm sure that they would save this money up and go back to China and live like kings. Of course the newspapers here made a fuss about how it was exploitation... And Polish people would go work in England or Ireland for a summer and then return to Poland having made more waiting tables than their counterparts who would work here as bankers or accountants. So - it all depends on what you an purchase for the money you've made and where you go to purchase it... Um - and Yamato's not greedy I think it's sad that the poll result is different - but then again, I'm almost always in the minority, so I guess this time it's no different Pete

Borat voice: Veeerrrry nice! How much? But seriously - I am forever in awe of the talent of people on this forum for making stuff like this. Your project is no exception. Looking forward to the final result Pete

I care. I'm happy. See me jump for joy: But your post also made me sad because when I saw "M&M" on one side and Dec 18th on the other I thought (yay! Max and Milya!) and then in the middle it said Queadluun-Rau and the air went out of my happiness baloon Speaking of which - I have Milya's Quid Rau and never ever ever ever ever wanted Max's at all. Would be nice, since Yamato has done Olive Destroid Tomahawk to get a green Quid Rau - I'd be over those fast Also - what is the status of the Quid Rau from Frontier? Since it is a likeness of the Quid Rau for which Yamato has a license - can Bandai do one? I presume they can since I think the only difference is the cannon - although there may be others as well... But anyways - I'd love a Klan Klan Quid Rau with fully poseable macronized Klan + cute little micro-klan statue Pete

I don't want to go veering to far off topic - so I'll be brief (and nice to Robotech fans): I appreciate the fact that, given the historical context, the original idea behind Robotech was to share with Americans the beauty of Japanese animation and anime story telling at a time when we didn't have youtube, the internet, hobby shops that make things readily available and forums like this one. Back in the 80s, if you were serious about bringing Japanese anime to America, then I doubt you could have gone another route than the one taken with Robotech and the attempt made. That said - times have changed, the whole truth about the issue is out and there is little doubt that Macross as it was originally and has continued on is better than Robotech and particularly better than its' continuations. And now back on topic: THOSE HELMENTS ROCK!! Unless I'm mistaken, the F-14 Tomcat is the one Shin flew in Macross Zero, no? You should deck out your helment with Edgar's little love heart and the like Pete

In monetary terms, the experience impacted the time taken. Obviously the physical production of one VF-1 valkyrie takes...I dunno? How long? 15 minutes? But to get to that point took a lot of work - not the least of which was probably experimenting with numerous designs to make perfect transformation possible. It was a huge investment in time and energy spread out over ten years - so my only point was that if people can complain in the manner of "man - I have to work 3 days to afford this thing" then they should take into consideration how long the company had to work to get to the point where they could offer it to you for three days of work. Or - to put it another way - how would you feel if you had to work 10 years in order to be able to offer something (say and SV-51) to someone for three days of time? I'd feel like charging 21,000 Yen for it Pete

Congrats! I always considered the 1/60 YF-19 to be the first REAL Yamato figure I bought. Earlier, I did get the 1/72 YF-21, VF-11B and 1/60 v.1 VE-1 - but I never really felt as blown away as when I opend the 1/60 YF-19 and that really started me down the road of collecting Yamato with a passion:) Also - congrats on a lovely glass display stand! It's good to see that you're a person who prepares ahead. Pete

This is AWESOME!!! I am amazed and it doesn't surprise me that the guy built in in his basement:) I think this guy should be given a Nobel Prize in Science AND in literature (because his creation is poetry!) I bow my head before this God amongst men Pete

Actually, I'm 6 foot 2 inches already and can play basketball without high heels anyways - although truth be told, the last time I played alot wasi n high school - was even on the basketball team Sadly, in college, I totally stopped playing even though the game was sooo fun. But maybe when I turn 30 (soon) I will return to playing basketball in order to stay healthy And no - I am in no way a talented player. I'm comparatively slow, lack aggressiveness, have bad relfexes and basically the only thing I'm good for is rebounding and blocking other people's shots. I played offense in Basketball kind of like Shinji fought Toji's Eva... Pete

Nah. I could do that in my sleep ;p Pete

Speaking of Valkyrie and women we love - one thing that hasn't been considered in all of this is Myria in her 1J and how she did.... although frankly - I don't remember Did she do anything of note with her valkyrie in any mode? Pete

Thank you. Rest assured I'm working on the continuation - but I want to make it look better, so it's taking a bit more time than this first one. Pete

The mission is what it always is in Macross: Saving the women you love! Gerwalk only works for that. Battroid works, on the other hand, if you want to fall on the woman you love Pete

But people - let's be clear about something: So - some folks have to work 3 days to be able to afford a Valkyrie from Yamato. Other people have to work a week. Some youngsters even have to work for...2 years (sniff sniff, cry cry) How long did Yamato have to work to design the perfect transformation VF-1 1/48 and 1/60 scale Valkyrie? 10 YEARS How much did it cost them to do this? A lot more than it cost any of us to buy one of their Valks. If you look at it that way - you are paying 3 days of your time for 10 years of Yamato's time. The question of whether it's worth it is up to each individual. But the general complaint doesn't hold water. Second matter: One of the members noted that Yamato was greedy because it doesn't produce MORE Valkyrie in order for price to be lower per unit. This is an interesting question - Yamato is, in a sense, an oligopoly if not an outright monopoly insofar as the perfect transformation/precision Valkyrie market is concerned - so in a way - I think you might well be right. But even under this scheme of things, they are improving - the v.2 1/60 is very cheap for a Valkyrie that includes Super and Strike parts and has all of the features that it has and all of the precision. But - yes - here I concede that Yamato may likely be taking advantage of its' oligopolistic status and this might indeed have something to do with the final prices being so high (can't really call them a total monopoly since other companies DO produce VF-1s - they just do a worse job at it). Pete

I'm starting to think that Bandai is reading this thread and that's why the DX is late late late in coming out It would be cool to think that they're sweating "the crotch! it should be more big! big big crotch! not flat!" (*whips designer*) hmm... it would really make life easier at this point for the DX to be released so that, even if everyone will still have bad things to say about it they could just point to the actual product instead of year old prototype pictures and fuzzy photos Pete

I would take this article with a grain of salt, because it demonstrates something that is a sad truth in our society: Journalists write about things that they don't understand. I've always been of the opinion that journalists with no training in economics shouldn't write about economics, just like journalists with no training in medicine shouldn't be writing dispatches about SARS, AIDS, pharmecuticals etc etc. Why? Because usually what happens in such cases is that the journalist "searches for" facts which are handilly provided by the PR departments of governments, companies and interested parties - and the journalist does not have the knowledge in the field that they are writing about to critically analyze what he is being spoon fed and end up reporting as "fact" something which is baloney. Case in point: 1) The article praises China for spending billions on infrastructure and other similar projects to off-set the economic slowdown, while at the same time blaming China for providing tax incentives to companies that want to start up businesses there (which is a measure that surely can only help the economy). This is like saying that it's good to force people to dig holes in the ground and call it employment, but it's bad to let them try to provide for what consumers really desire. 2) The article makes the following link: bad economy --> closing factories---> protests because workers don't get compensation that the new workers comp law calls for. However, any rational human being can understand that actually, it probably went completely the other way around: New law calling for workers' comp in case of layoffs--->raises costs and risk of employing more labor in an already unstable economy ---> lowers efficiency of production because factories suddenly find that on the one hand they need skilled workers but on the other hand can't hire as many as they might desire due to risks related to workers comp law---> unemployment rises---labor mobility (being able to quickly go from one job to another) is stalled and so resources can't move quickly from unproductive to productive fields---> workers have more of an incentive to trash an office and demand their workers comp than to just go work in another factory (and there are lots of other places to work). 3) The article makes equates - in a patently stupid manner - tax incentives for business in China with potentially retaliatory tarrrifs in a "trade war" in America which could harm China and the global economy (implying China should back off of the tax incentives), which is like saying that if a 7 foot tall NBA star goes up against me in a game of basketball then he better be careful 'cause - dude - I could put on some high heels! Slapping tarrifs on import goods damaged the country that puts the tarrifs on the goods. Not only because those goods are directly made more expensive, but because the economies of the world are SO inter-linked that the side effects will impact industries that you probably don't even know exist. Meanwhile China will just sell to somebody else who isn't foolish enough to build a wall around their country. 4) And last but not least - the ONE time they actually quote one of the exploited workers who is being so mistreated and living in such dire circumstances is to show him saying that ... a) after loosing his factory job he'll work in a bookstore for a while and see what happens (aka there are other jobs out there) b) he doesn't want to go home yet because he's afraid that if he does he'll.... starve? die? have nothing to do? be unable to feed his family? NO. he's afraid he'll "GAMBLE HIS MONEY AWAY" Economic downturn my butt!!! People whose biggest worry is that if they stop going to work then their liable to gamble their money away don't really qualify for sick, dying miserable and hungry. But this article goes on to quote professors and academics who speculate about all of the terrible unrest etc etc that will happen if this worsening economy continues- even though it seems that for now the only unrest was a bunch of workers indignant about not getting money they believed (rightly by law) that they were due. In any event - as usual - China will only be hurt if it listens to Westerners like this Journalist who has no clue what he's talking about and whose country has gone down the tubes thanks to thoughtless advice like what the west is trying to dish out to China. Them's my two cents anyways. Pete

Boo. Pete

You know - for all this talk about how durable the chunky monkey is, all I ever found in toy and hobby shops across the USA were BROKEN JETFIRES. Broken backpack hinges mainly. Now - I understand that I'm being a bit of a jerk here (and doing so in jest so don't kill me), and I also understand that adults usually handle things with more care than little kids - and the ENTIRE G1 line up was fairly delicate for little kids toys (the "backs" of the Autobots, the doors, etc etc) - but still - the point is that this idealizing of the durability of the 1/55 is a bit just that - an idealization... As to the pic posted by Grace (aka David: ) ... All I see in that pick is that the DX is posed improperly. That's like throwing up a pick of the Nora from Zero and then showing Yamato's Nora improperly posed. People often straighten the crotch on Valkyries because they tend to anthropomorphize the figure and instinctivly try to pose it as though it were a guy - and guys don't walk around thrusting their crotches out... but Valkyrie do - so - when you get your DX, just thrust out the crotch Pete

I notice the lack of Macross Zero love You must get yourself an SV-51 or three Welcome to Macrossworld Pete