VFTF1

There is only ONE thing I fear about a potential "meet the Protoculture" plot line... Namely that the protoculture end up being underwhelming. See - I think part of what makes Macross work is that the element of mystery is very very drawn out. What if they screwed up the Protoculture and made them cheesy and 'jut another villain' or plot point? I think it is best to leave the Protoculture as they are - a legend. Instead - I think we need MORE spunky cute anime girls! How about Macross: Chicks ? It will be about a group of fashion models who get together to form their own music group and fly Mecha in an attempt to win a weekend vacation with Nekki Bassara? Pete

Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn! That is SWEET! I think I'm going to take the plunge and get it. I have never painted a model before... errr...then again...this isn't even snap-fit like the MGs is it? I am scared of handling this thing... But the finaly product looks sooooo beautiful! Well done Bandai. Pete

Wow Pretty comprehensive list Of all that, I've seen Road Warrior and Born in East LA...which reminds me - it's been ages since I've seen born in East LA and I really loved that movie Pete

I suddenly had a terrible vision of generic voice actors doing Hikaru and Minmey in a new Macross series that utterly fails to impress.... Yes - this is a risk...but it goes with the territory...although - ok - I get it...maybe we should stick to what we might realistically expect as opposed to what we "wish" for... but that's hard Pete

I just noticed that I "graduated" from being a gossipy Bridge Bunny to a pipe holder... maybe this was on account of exceeding 1000 posts? Is there any way to go back to being a bridge bunny? I just don't see myself as a pipe holder. Sure; I smoked a pipe when I was 16, but I've been smoking cigarettes now for at least 10 years or more - albeit with far lower frequency in the last year and actually none in the last two months (well -except 3 when a situation really teed me off:) ) ... But the point is - I felt more comfortable as a bridge bunny because they talked alot. I talk alot. Pipe Holders hold pipes Or - am I like the person who holds the Captain's pipe? Pete

I think the best possible thing would be to re-visit our friends at Fire Bomber! Basara would be side-tracked to the role of a Macross version of Ozzy Ozborne - we wouldn't see much of him except for on TV. The main character would be somebody new - albeit Bassara like...maybe a female lead this time? I think that it could be done WITH a re-visit to the Megaroad and the original crew... Like - the Quest for Bassara's Mom - Minmey? Something like that. As long as it has lots of flowers, rainbows and great music. Either that or a special series of Macross: Ranka's Tales. Pete

I don't know which to get first..Ozma? Alto? Alto? Ozma? What I really want is some Revoltech Macross: Frontier figures!! Pete

Hmm... I love 80s cartoons...movies.... not so much... at least off the top of my head... I guess Spinal Tap is an 80s movie, right? But I saw it in the 90s... Transformers: The Movie - obviously - but that's kind of a technicality since in all fairness it was in cinemas for what? a week? And besides - I saw it on rental anyways (mom wouldn't take me - maybe she had a bad day or didn't want to watch it with me or something?)... Hmm..Karate Kid? I enjoyed it but I don't have it on DVD or anything - wouldn't mind seeing it again... Rocky - all of the Rockys - but that's not a "guilty pleasure" is it? I mean - Rocky got an Oscar - and all the sequals have lots of heart and are fun... this view is not a minority view, is it? Not something people hide in their closets? Hmm...what else? Top Gun I hate. Then again - there are very few Tom Cruise movies that I like - actually - there's one - Risky Business. That's an 80s movie - he gets left at home as a teenager and calls a prostitute: great flick! Rambo I never really liked... Roger Moore as James Bond - love those; and they are 80s primarily - but...again...is James Bond a guilty pleasure? No... Platoon was a great movie... Scarface - AWESOME 80s movie.... But these are cult classics, no? Lots of good Jack Nicholson films from the 80s as well - The Crossing Gaurd is legend, Postman always knocks twice - or is that 70s? Is the Shinning 70s or 80s? Somewhere there abouts. I like Red Dawn - even thugh it's cheesy - but ...well..I don't own it - and if I don't own it, that means I didn't make the effort to actually find and buy it - which means I didn't love it really... Planet of the Apes... again - cult classic...not guilty pleasure... It's really difficult for me to find anything... Hellraiser - the original one - LOVE IT! But - it's a wonderful cult classic top notch horror flick..not some "guilty pleasure"... Aliens...ditto. Alien was 79 I believe so can't even consider it. No...I'm sorry - I'm afraid all of the eighties movies I like are actuallly good. Lastly - anybody ever see Cherry: 2000? I think it was an early 90s flick, not 80s, but it might as well have been the 80s... great GREAT albeit SUPER-CHEESEY sci-fi with Mellany Griffith... Mad Max and all subsequent sequals I also like... have 1 and 2...no Thunderdome...need to track that baby down. Anyways - I showed Mad Max (1) to my girlfriend and she was HORRIFIED by it But then again; she'd never seen alien and when we finished watching it, she was sweating, shivering and couldn't sleep I love the fact that her cultural outlook/history is TOTALLY different from mine (she "gets me back" by showing me old Polish movies from between the 50s to the 70s and telling me stories of working on a tobaccoo plantation as a kid err...anyways - ahh...fond memories I have so many of them that I think I'm officially starting to get old Pete

The only Yamato products that every did any breakage on me are: 1) The old 1/60 VF-11B who's leg fell off AS SOON as I took it out of the box - heck - the leg just stayed in the box. 2) My old 1/60 VF-OA - however my new OA is sturdy and my OS has always been sturdy. Haven't transformed my YF-21 yet. YF-19: SOLID. I will be getting my VF-1S /160 shortly and it's really sad to read that there might be a shoulder problem... Will be careful with that... HOWEVER - you know what it reminds me of? I have two SV-51 Ivanovs. Why? Because I STUPIDLY applied excess presure to the wing-latch on my first Ivanov - and it too was a plastic thing around a metal rod. Snap! The wing actually still holds; the thing looks ok; the damage is hidden, I put some super glue in there just in case... But the point is: it was my fault for applying pressure. My Nora and new Ivanov are problem free. But with Yammies - I know Graham likes to say "I can transform mine in [fill in relatively short time]" - but I just do it slowly...very slowly - even if it takes me up to 45 minutes. For the life of me, I can't remember all of the steps; and I use the instructions and double and triple check and just don't rush it - and never ever apply excess force. This is why I've only NOW learned that my YF-19's neck also transorms... or that there's a panel to be flipped out to make up for his back and cover the cockpit in battroid mode... Each of these birds is delicate and has lots and lots of moving parts - I have big hands and can CRUSH people like Borat. This includes being able to CRUSH Valks. So I go slow. my point is - there is a difference between bad QC and a delicate figure. Yammies are by and large just very delicate figures that need to be handled with care. With all those moving parts and the need to have sleek parts in order to stay faithful to screen CADs and the like - you just have to accept it. These will not have the "play value" of a Transformer. VFTF1

And I will write for the millionth time... MY VF-OS has no problems. My VF-OA is kind loose. My old VFOA is gone along with it's $#@)#@ falling off arms and legs VFTF1

Stupid question time: Is HGIF the thing that Mirya showed an image of a few posts up? Non-poseable figures? VFTF1 EDIT: I SOOOO WANT THOSE REPLICA T-SHIRTS!!! BUT A HUNDRED BUCKS!! AAARGH!! I'd buy like 10 of them so I could have a clean one to wear every day if the price weren't so absurd

Hmm...yes...well...I must admit I am not an L-Gaim fan... never saw the anime; maybe if I did then I'd have a different opinion... but over all it's just too...er...regular and sleak at the same time...the design is kind of banal. Doesn't really move me either way... I guess I'm more of a retro fellow. VFTF1

Personally I can't stand Classics Galvatron. The chest and head are great - but the rest is just... not Galvatron. They took too many liberties with him. A shame since making a simple transforming space cannon would have been SO EASY!! AARRGGHH! VFTF1

Well, I'm way behind. I just got Ratchet and Black Arachnia and am waiting on Grimlock VFTF1

Sounds like an intelligent young man, going by his taste I'm now looking to pick up an EVA-01 SPEC-Renewal version What I'd really like to get my hands on however is that Gunbuster SOC!! VFTF1

I actually think that Macross 7 is ingenious precisely because of the fact that rather than building up a large fan base, it is able to build up a large anti-pathy base. I know there are some shows out there which people "love to hate," but usually they hate the show because it doesn't fulfill expectations; because it doesn't live up to the plot or spirit or whatever... Macross 7 seems to be disliked because of the way it IS, not because of what it isn't. This makes me think that Macross 7 is actually pretty successful. It's like Jesus - he goes around telling people he's God, and that angers and annoys lots of folks. They don't like him precisely for that reason. Macross 7 does the same thing - it goes around saying "all your mecha and missiles and bombs are nothing compared to the power of love music!" and this annoys people. Also - when comparing Bassara and Lyn Kaifun - I think it helps to be mindful of the fact that Kaifun wound up being a phoney. The one and only time when Kaifun was impressive was during the brawl at Nian Nian when he used Chinese Kung-Fu to ward off attackers without hurting them. But clearly, what made him annoying was the fact that he treated Minmey's singing as a business rather than a cause. Sure, he did say "keep singing!" when the Zentrans attacked inside the Macross - another big up for him - but beyond that and the aforementioned Kung Fu scene - he seemed to be intent on just marketing Minmey as such. He didn't care about the people Minmey sang for and - especially in the period after Space Wars I ended, he became a drunk, violent, disrespectful... he had very much antipathy for people. Also - he became a rabble rouser. He made his stand by rousing emotions of anger (not love) - anger towards the military, anger towards the government, anger towards soldiers. Bassara doesn't do this. Basara loves everyone and his songs bring out the emotions of love and friendship in others. Bassara does everything for the people who he wants to move with his music. He also goes directly to the enemy and sings to them (I'm thinking of Sivil in the forrest here). Love him or hate him, Bassara is not a phoney like Kaifun. VFTF1

Has it ever occured to you that Basara just lip-sincs? But seriously- I highly doubt he's "playing" the guitar in the Kai. I mean - we don't see him strumming it (then again, you rarely see strumming during the live concerts due to poor animation...) ... I always figured the guitar is more an aesthetic thing - he might have a switch there with which he chooses the backround music.. and then he sings. It is concievably possible to sing while flying - why not? The guitar definitely doesn't function autonomosly of the fighter - I don't recall Bassara ever taking it out. I actually disagree with this notion that character development entails a detailed knowledge of the character's past. Perhaps Basara's past is as mysterious to him as it is to others? Besides, character development is not the same thing as a biography. Macross 7 is not meant to be a biography of Basara; and to the extent that his past is a mystery- well - so? It's a mystery. The notion that something had to "happen" to make him "become" a pacifist is a bit preposterous IMO. Why? Because can't people just HAVE beliefs? I mean - do we need to experience everything in order to come to conclusions about it? It's an old debate; and I've always found the empirical argument kind of silly. Do we have to experience murder to know it's a bad thing? Must we experience war in order to claim that peace is better? Can't we just come to these conclusions based on independent thought? Basara seems to have had a wanderer's childhood - no family, no traditions, no society - this made him open to the world and he grew up with no prejudice; no conventions; no psychological complexes. He liked singing and felt deep in his heart that his songs could move mountains - and I think he also liked nature. Does he really require any more reason for being? VFTF1

Thanks - I'll slowly start discovering those unusual areas around his hip/thighs and make him sturdy. VFTF1

Basara doesn't explain because reducing artistic endeavors to their component parts, to the "first principles" is an exercise in extreme pathos that artists usually dislike both on aesthetic grounds (it demeans the otherwise lofty nature of their craft) as well as on theoretical grounds (once you "explain" your art, the explanation suddenly sets boundaries to your creativity). This is likely why Basara doesn't explain his own art - or, he lets the art explain itself; and for those of us unable to fully appreciate the language in which Basara's art speaks (music), there's Dr. Chiba - music expert - to explain it to us. But expecting Basara to put down his guitar and give a symposium explaining his actions and character misses the point. Whereas flying a plane/robot with a stick is the logical and obvious means by which to do so? This is, I think, a case where the conventions of our technology are so set in practice, that it's hard for us to realize that something like how you stear a plane is - in the last analysis - somebody's bright idea. Imagine for a moment that you didn't know planes existed; that you'd never seen one; heck - you hadn't even seen a car or a bike or any other vehicle "steered" by people. You have, however, seen birds. Birds fly - they flap their wings. Then someone leads you to a plane and says "this too can fly." Initially you say - yeah, I sort'a see it...it's got wings and looks birdy like...but how do you fly it? Do people have to stand inside and grab long rods internally attached to the wings and "flap" them? Kind of like rowers in a boat?" "No...you just sit in this compfy share, push that thing up, flip those switches and hold this stick." ???!!!!! That is just as equally crazy as using a guitar to fly a plane. So I see nothing abnormal or childish about the fact that Basara customized his Valk so that he could fly it while playing music at the same time. After all - that's the point - to be able to play music and fly at the same time. Compare this to the Jamming Birds, who needs a two seater... VFTF1

So nice to see another M7 thread Contrary to popular opinion - I would recomend watching it straight through. Preferably in winter, when it's cold and ugly outside, with multiple beers and pizzas. It really is a great series; and watching it straight through doesn't make it boring at all; but all the more exciting. Depending on your musical taste, you will love or hate some segments because most of i is heavily colored by the music track; but overall personally I like everything Bassara sings besides Planet Dance. overall, this is probably the best Macross series - even though Frontier is lovely, Macross 7 has a unique lasting power because of the character of Bassara. MF is more of an homage to all of Macross lore, whereas M7 is a very unique piece of that lore... Even if you hate Basara in the beginning - keep watching - eventually he will open your heart to flowers, peace, love and the power of song. VFTF1

I just got my Dancouga - and actually, I'm not sure which version it is - first or second...have to check... but... No neck problem. I read about this supposed neck problem elsewhere, and was prepared for it...and er...it ...didn't happen... The joint fits perfectly into the head and everything rests securely. My only qualm with ther figure is that it's top heavy and can flop - unless maybe there's some locking mechanism on the thighs that I've missed out on? Anyways - great figure! Now watching Choujuu Kishin Dancouga - been through the first three episodes and while it sometimes feels like an 80s video game, there is a good dynamic going what with the exploitation of anger to power the weapons (good psychological edge, kind of reminds me of EVA), and the jealousy of Sara who seems to fight the aliens only as revenger against Shapiro and Men in general ... then there's Shinobu (I think that's his name) who is the lamest of the cast; largely because he's a hot shot ace pilot who cares only about weapons' systems... although I give him credit for being a pretty ingenious field tactician - attacking the alien base as a way of drawing their forces away from the impending battle against civilians was a brilliant decision that probably saved lots of people's lives. anyways - the figure is ace! VFTF1

I'm satisfied with my WAVE. Here's why making a bigger scale Macross is pointless: The transformation is way to simple. Companies would end up making a brick. The only way to make it "fun" is to make it at such a huge scale, that you could inclue - say 1/200 fighters, gerwalks and battroids as well as Destroids - that would be fun...but it wouldn't exactly stretch anyone's engineering/design brain. The only fun thing - internal diaramas of cities etc would be pointless - better to just make them rather than tryign to "make them" in a model. Basically - look at it from the point of view of a "tech" guy - the only way to make the Macross interesting, design wise, is to either make it small (like Wave) - where you can focus on trying to make it externally look right, OR making a relatively bigger one to be in scale with 1/200 pieces... Either of these options is really limiting in terms of transformation tech and other design elements. Basically - it's so simple, no body wants to really do it. that's what I think anyhow. VFTF1

For once, I am on the side of the majority: Subtitles! I hate dubs, I hate them with a burning passion because they lie to me. Subtitles desipher something foreign; often times they leave some room for thinking "huh?" - and that's good, because it leads me to want to understand the grey spots better. Dubs are lies- someone interprets something and you end up watching the interpretation instead of being confronted by the strangeness of what the show was really trying to portray. And just for clarity: I prefer literal textual translations in books as well - even at the expense of "proper" grammar and style and form - all of these are secondary: let it sound "wierd" - fine - often time different languages express things that our language does not give us access to - so dubbing and doing intepretive translations denies us that access and covers over something special. VFT1

Been kind of busy lately... Also built Virtue and Nadleeh - now setting out to make Kyros... I'll say this much: it's one thing to build one or two of these ... but to have ALL of the Gundam OO sets.... I feel like a freaking factory It's like a part time job! Gotta build em fasta so I can still have some time in life to enjoy them!! I need to outsource this! VFTF1

Only a few days stand between me and SOC God Mars and Dancouga! Will post happy joy delight pics hopefully by Weds! VFTF1