VFTF1

All I care about at this point is that there won't be a freekeen "My VF-25's arm fell off" thread when these come out. Sometimes I think I just shouldn't read the toy forum at Macross world I now own roughly 14 or so Yamato Valkyrie. Out of ALL of the Yamato valkyrie I owned, only 2 ever broke (the 1/72 VF-11B and the 1/60 VF-OA), of which the replacement for one is fine (new 1/60 VFOA is fine). But EVERY where I turn, all I hear is "arm fell off," "foot fell off," "head fell off," "wing fell off," "spontaneously combusted" and on and on and on It's so depressing But then, when I actually proceed to transform these - nothing breaks. Nothing falls apart. If it does - it's immediate; not gradual. My VF-11B's legs just fell off right when I lifted the thing about 1 inch out of the box. My VFOA's foot broke off as soon as I opened it, the arm fell off as soon as I moved it. So 2 out of 14 ain't bad. Ain't perfect. But ain't bad. Please lordy let my VF-1S version 2.0 not fall apart since I was so happy that it had a fast pack and all I so looked forward to it boo hooo I don't want it to die And I really want the VF-25 to be QC free. You know - I would probably happily buy like triple the amount of Yamatos I have now if not for the FEAR that all of these nightmare QC stories have imparted on me. I really wanna buy a fleet of VF-25s. Be perfect and I will Pete

Well now I am officially scared witless to open my VF-1S... especially since I have TWO darn boxes coming in... The only time I ever got "yamatoed" was with my VF-0A w/Ghost - but I just got another one, and while it's also somewhat flimsy, it at least doesn't break at the slightest touch... plus - I watched the review of the VF-1S 1/60 on collection DX, and it does indeed look like a solid piece of work... besides - how could the V2 have such bad QC? The 1/48 has no problems. I have like 6 different 1/48s and none of them have any QC issues so sad Bring on the Bandai VF-25. and I hope that there's no QC issues with those Pete

Good god. My 1/48 is in perfect condition and works just fine. I'm getting my 1/60 V2 delivered tomorrow morning. Maybe I should just not open it at all? I was really looking forward to these. What should I do?? Pete

The Hasbro versions of the MPs were always roughly 50 bucks - but they also majorly sucked - at least I thought so. Hasbro MP Prime was available in the following versions: a) Dirty with short smoke-stacks b) loose floppy joints, a miscolored gun and body and short smokestacks I also don't like the Hasbro MP Starscream. And people who complain that Kawamori's Starscream isn't G1 accurate can eat their heart out because this is the correct color scheme as seen in the original Marvel comics - and it wasn't a one off error - several issues present Starscream with this scheme: So Kawamori's Starscream is not only real-life accurate as a jet, but actually IS G1 accurate in terms of colors. Always prefered comic Starscream to cartoon anyways Pete

All we need is Misa Hayes :( :( when? oh when? Pete

Well - that just goes to confirm what I thought: the new MP price is a reflection of rising costs of production etc etc etc and not of a huge toy. This was to be expected. The "old" MP price has been around for what?...4 years now? Since G1 Prime pretty much. New year - new higher price tag to reflect higher costs. Pete

When I was a kid, my teachers would give me hell because my rich vocabulary meant that on the "definition" part of the spelling tests I would always know the meaning of even the most difficult words, while on the "spelling" part I would routinely flunk. My answer was always: "I'm gonna have a secretary!" I just never knew her name would be OpenOffice or Word... and that she too has no clue what a Zendrati, Zendradi, Zendoradi or whatever the correct spelling is Pete

That's why I wanted to post in the Newbi Thread first - because my reaction is not going to be a deep historical analysis...rather - I read the Minmey sheet and thought: "Aww...poor Janice Merlyn (or whatever her name was)... I wonder if HER singing could have stopped the Zendradi? "Breetai, I would love to dance with you, but you're standing on my dress..[deep diva laughter]" ... Pete

If memory serves correctly, DYRL had up-skirt "power of gravity" shots, SDFM had naked Minmey showering, Zero had naked Sarah singing, and on and on and on. Juvenillie in some cases - bu the word "juvenile" gets a bad rap... if not overused it is amusing and humanizing and fun. And actually - it is an element that is very much MISSING from Robotech, where everything is always DARK and SERIOUS and underscoring that THIS IS NOT A CARTOON! This is also why Robotech has nothing to do with the power of song and everything to do with mecha and things that go boom. Look at Shadow Chronicles - ewww... It's as if the writers just sat down for a month and recorded ther RPG session and then turned it into a movie Pete

I have a question about this thread: http://macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=28072 I just read Gubaba's translation of the Minmey character and wanted to comment/share my thoughts... Question: Can we comment on the translations, share our thoughts in the thread - or is it soley for the purpose of presenting translations? Pete

YES!! You are right! It is the same episode in which the Basara/Gamlin gay love duo is suggested! The guys are indeed selling pictures of her panties. You are right. So there is therefore a panty precendent for High School Queen in Frontier; albeit in Macross 7 the panty thing is a one off incident - Frontier raises it to the level of episode theme. But yeah - you're right. And I'm sure there will be no panties in the Robotech movie; just proving that the Anime is superior! Pete

I too don't remember any Mylene's panties photo episode... The "lowest" it ever got was the hilarious tabloid article about Basara and Gamlin being gay lovers But it's been a year since I saw the series, so maybe my memory is rusty... um - and to get back on topic: Robotech the movie sucks! Or at least it will! Pete

Pete

I answered yes to both. I agree with Graham. I disagree with everybody else (pretty much) I read the vast majority of the thread and here's my thoughts on some of what's been said: 1. "You always remember your first" - no, not really. All I remember is she had red hair and I had a grey suit on. And I think her name was Julia. Wait - or did you mean your first love? Although - you know; every time you fall in love AGAIN, you suddenly start considering your old love to not have been love, but rather a mistake - at least I do... so the analogy doesn't really work for me in that sense either. And lastly - a good series like Macross SDF M has this advantage: namely, the more you watch it, the more you get out of it - it's like classic literature. Women and love don't have this advantage. Usually the more you look at her and talk to her the more you regret it 2. I agree with the sentiment of one fellow who said that he didn't like to compare the series/ovas because it's all one big ongoing story to him. I share this feeling and also feel kind of "pushed to the wall" with this topic - but if forced to vote, I vote yes on both in favor of Frontier. 3. I agree with Duke Togo that SDF M was great for showing the aftermath to the climactic battle and this was indeed a major strength. The first thing I thought of when hearing of the MF movie was "show what happens after." Still, this alone doesn't tilt the scales enough for me to vote no. 4. The animation question - as much as I love M7, I have to agree that the animation on that thing was trashy; I mean - when I watch SDF M, I KNOW it was made early enough that I can appreciate the animation as wonderful and great - but M7 could have been better and it wasn't (animation wise). But then again; it wasn't utter tosh either. Frontier was perfect. The best animation of any Macross was in Zero. Frontier had the animation of Zero for 24 straight episodes. The stylized animation in some of the episodes was - IMO - just wonderful. Things like Luca suddenly becoming a SD figure and blushing and rolling away; things like the facial expressions in Panty High School Queen - I loved it - it was fun, funny and endeared you to the characters more. 5. The point was made regarding the "threat factor" and how it just goes overboard at some point (first the earth is threatened, then the universe, then what? The multiverse?) - Personally - I think that the biggest threat is always to a character's hair: I agree with Minmay on that count. And no - I'm not kidding. What we really become attached to is the fate of particular characters. Things like mass death are kind of mundane because they are mass death. Yeah; it's sad - entire civilizations being whiped out; but the dramatic effect is somewhat equivalent to the idea that the Sun will one day consume our world and no one will remember us...sniff... um - but what we tend to really care about is those closest to us - friends, families; people we see on a daily basis... so... I dunno - Frontier DIDN'T have to have some supa-dupa-big-threat. The one we got was quite enough. Grace was a threat not so much because she wanted to be everywhere in the galaxy, but because she wanted to cybernetically control people's minds... I think the threat of science misused was well built up. 6. The one thing I don't agree with Graham about is NGE. I think Neon Genesis Evangelon is on par with Frontier. The thing that differentiates them is simply the difference between faith in the human spirit (Macross) and nihilism (NGE). So it's not right to compare them too strictly, since the points that they make are just so radically divergent. Anyways - I love Macross Frontier and will buy 100 Alto Customs just to show it. (just wait! ) Pete

Yeah - the tail and neck BETTER have poseability. I mean - one of the main reasons why I thought that G1 Grimlock would be impossible to do as a Masterpiece is because in order to do it- you'd need to make what is effectively a "one piece" tail move fluidly without doing what they did with say, Classics Grimlock. I mean - the T-REX better NOT be a giant BRICK that would be insane... As to Alternity being in scale with most deluxe cars - that is a plus. But still. And finally... Sadly I agree. That design reminds me of Depthcharge from Beast Wars. And Ravage looks like the Alien dog from Alien 3. In fact - no way - sorry - but soundwave's Crotch is a Chevi grill... umm .... no. No way. That CAN'T be it. Then again - when I first saw Monkeyscream I also thought "nooooo waaaayyy" .... I'll admit that onscreen - Starscream didn't even look half bad. Maybe these will also look better on screen... But... generally... this is why I don't buy movie toys (other than the fact that they don't even look like the...um... movie tfs ) Pete

But it was superior only because of the legacy of 7: it had all the right elements: 1. Totsugeki Love heart in Ozma's truck - very uplifting 2. Ranka super star flying in like Sound Force Mylene on Mikchael's jazzed up VF-25 and singing to win the battle 3. Sheryl also training to be a fighter pilot and, presumably, take up the role of a Sound Force ace (didn't work out so well) 4. Ranka Attack (classic Soundforce) 5. My Soul for You playing all throughout episode 17 So - you see - Frontier is of course superior, but it wouldn't be, if not for Macross 7 laying so much of the groundwork. Pete

But I only watched Ally McBeal because she was a babe. All the legal stuf went in one ear and out the other.... Besides - I might be wrong, since I actually didn't watch more than a couple of episodes; but didn't shows like Ally McBeal and Boston Legal deal mainly with domestic legal cases? Anyways - if someone reopens the thread, then we can move our discussion there.... But it's kind'a hard to discuss how much the Robotech movie sucks without discussing the legal underpinings of sucking. But you know what? I highly doubt this movie is ever going to come out - I just can't believe it would. Hopefully this statement does not come back to haunt me. Pete

Well, I'm glad I asked anyways, because I didn't know that Saotome meant "young girl." Nice to learn something new Now I know how to say "poo," "young girl," "love," and "roger" in Japanese Another thousand years of this and I'll know the whole language Pete

Is it mere coincidence that Alto has the same last (?) name as the late, great creator of Getter Robo? Pete

Well, now you're getting into the very interesting debate that Science Officer Dude had with Hikaru Ichijo late in the SDFM TV series. Science Officer dude adamently pointed out that human nature entails armed conflict and always has; while Hikaru maintained that he didn't fight because he liked it, but because he had too and that it was possible to stop wars. This is interesting. If anything; Macross is a message about how - on the one hand - humanity has to unite for its' own survival, but on the other hand, the journey into space - supposedly made in order to spread culture and peace in the event that Earthlings end up exterminating eachother - also entails conflict with other beings, or further inter-human conflict. Personally - I don't agree with either side: instead, I agree with Nekki Basara. The whole debate about whether we are historically predestined towards war or peace is beside the point and not really relevent. What's relevent is what YOU are going to do in the context you find yourself in. Basara decides that he is going to sing. He doesn't really care if people listen to his music; he would like them to - but he's not after recognition, and he will sing about love no matter what. In other words: what really matters is what we do - or as John Conor says in T2 "There is no fate but what we make for ourselves." In this sense - I don't think the Protoculture were being arrogant in spreading their seed. They gave us paradise and all of the benefits of their knowledge. We screwed it up. They didn't. Humans are at fault; and humans need to make amends for it. And they do - by continuing the original mission of the protoculture: trying to spread culture throughout the universe. Pete

The complaints about Grimlock's simple engineering are understandable. In fact - when the first rumors of MP-08 being Grimlock broke - I was like "NO WAY (as in literally no way!) - because Masterpiece is all about complex transformations and engineering, and Grimlock is a big simple dino, with an 80s understanding of how T-rexes stood" But - apparently they did make him. Look - you can't expect Grimlock to be any more complex than what you saw in the cartoon. Consider this a big dumb T-rex with a bow tie and Brain-enhancement device or whatever that thing is and be happy. The higher price might just be due to higher production costs and not just a taller MP... In fact - I might be wrong - but I think Grimlock represents the new MP price point. Could be wrong - but that's my guess. Given that Macross and SOC sell for roughly that much - it's no wonder Takara-Tomy uped their price too - especially considering that their costs have risen pretty steadily anyways. But maybe I'm wrong about this. As for the question of durability/toys... well... I'm a guy who even plays with his Gundam models so.... As for Alternators: I ultimately gave up on liking them. The Bluestreak and Hound, Jazz, Skids and Tracks molds were the only ones worth picking up because all the rest of them were just wrong (Prowl was wrong, and Grimlock was utterly wrong) in terms of deviating from the character. Also- they were just so out of scale with every other TF I had. I don't miss them a bit. I MIGHT end up getting Alternity Convoy - but he's just candy, kind of like Hybrid Convoy was a while ago... Pete

Much more than that is stated for certain: Namely - the blood type of the Aphos is exactly the same as the blood type of Mao Nome. In fact, the Aphos is the ONLY being with compatible blood to help save Mao's life. In a sense then, we can safely speculate that the DNA of Aphos was the basis for the original humans - and the Mayans might have actually been "proto-humans" - Protoculture in fact, as opposed to actual culture which developed later (us, humanity). The Mayans are the most pure humans - the first humans - the proto-civilization... In fact - perhaps they ARE the Protoculture - in the same way that say, people born on Eden are Earthlings, even though lots of them have never been to Earth.... dum-dum-dum! Pete

But since Kate Winslet didn't sing the Titanic song which didn't get sung on the Titanic, I think of Celine Dyone instead (she's better looking than Kate Winslet anyways), whereas Minmey DID sing - at least in DYRL, so one can think of her breast, although personally I always been more drawn to her legs... This question is indeed hard to fathom until we begin to realize that true history is also filtered through the various means of story telling and interpretation... So I think Gubaba is - as usual - on to something. Pete

Never argue with two Basara Avatars in a row Pete

But...but...but... That Alien in the pictures...it's not a Revoltech...it CAN'T be.. I mean...where are the joints? If that thing is a Revoltech then they did a darn good job of hiding the revolver joints! Clearly got it posed in "man in rubber suit" Alien 1st movie edition stance... but still...very...well done? Pete