VFTF1

It might have something to do with the fact that I'm color blind Pete

Hm. I feel myself evolving now beyond even being dissapointed at TFs and towards the realm of...not caring one way or another There's SO much cool anime out there and cool stuff coming in 2010 - why even be concerned where this franchise goes anymore? Pete

There's a lot of truth to everything you write here. This is what happens when cool niche hobbies become mainstream. It's also why, in Poland, people are paying the equivalent of 13 thousand JPY and up for the stupid retarded Bayformers Devastator toy which doesn't even have individual transforming component parts, but try selling them a VF-1S Yammie version 2.0 for less than that and it's like...no thanks. Being mainstream sucks. Bread can be mainstream. Milk and water can be mainstream. The basic necessities of life can be mainstream. But the arts and crafts don't really work well as mainstream. Everything gets watered down and becomes generic and yes - people proceed to make outlandish connections between things - like imagining that mecha=Transformers, ergo everything with mecha is just a rip off of Transformers. That said, I was going to post some more of Robotech for everyone's enjoyment: Imagine that scene and that line in am ovie theatre People will think it's Carebears meets ID4 on crack. Pete

I don't think I can successfully cosplay anybody from Macross. The only guy I can coplay is Captain Bright from Mobile Suit Gundam. He looks just like me, so all I'd need is a uniform and hey presto there I am... Macross would be tough going. I dunno... Maybe I could do Breetai. Actually...yeah -Brettai would pretty much require only a uniform and a mask. I'm not into whigs. I could STRETCH Bassara...but I'd really need a lot of hair spray....and I'd have to grow my hair out a bit more than usual... Pete

Hm. But the feet and backpacks are anime accurate - and the feet are so amazingly poseable. The Zaku II 2.0 also has super poseable feet. I dunno. I'm very happy with the 2.0s. Can't wait to build my Gouf. Pete

Actually these are not very far fetched concepts IMO. Pete

And who would play Miss Piggy? No - doesn't work. Pete

You mean I suck even MORE than I thought? It's all Atarai's fault...I remember those screens from Atari - I swear... Pete

Well don't I suck Pete

Hm. Guess I'm not an Otaku... all of this looks kind of like my TV screen did whenever my Atari would malfunction and I'd need to take the game cartrage out and put it back in. Pete

Re: Robotech: On that note: Some more: I just have to stop and point out that even in Robotech, that scene couldn't have possibly been the first time "Lisa" and "Rick" met, and the "Mr. Lingerie" reference would only make sense if they had met earlier...in the lingerie shop... not to to mention "Obasa!" (if that even occured in Robotech). In any event - I just wanted to demonstrate to everyone WHY Paramount is so scared, and why the entire film industry is working hard to try to block this movie. Clearly this is going to blow them ALL away. Pete

Because during Obon festival you shout KAKIZAKE!!!! when setting off fire works. Duh! Pete

On that note: I would like a Macross series with Macross-chan characters, dedicated to the hunt for Sheryl's newest panties. 12 episodes of mystery as Ranka, Alto, Sheryl, Nanase and Luca hunt for the missing panties. There will be all sorts of adventures along the way. Oh - and of course Ai-kun will be in it too. He'll be like the crime-sniffing dog. Ninjin Loves You Yeah can be the theme song. Pete

Only if, whenever you happened to miss an episode on the day it was supposed to take place, you stopped time, rewinded time, and began a new time-loop, and you kept doing it over 15 thousand times until managing to manipulate events in such a way to make the past-you remember to watch the Macross episode that the future-you discovered you forgot to watch. Otherwise - no. Pete

Yes, but you have to remember that the relatively low sales of Shadow Chronicles is actually the result of HG purposefully keeping the lid on this stupendous movie so as not to ruin WB's planned future super PR blitz for the LAM. Pete

Yeah - that's what I meant. Sorry if it came accross rather unclearly. Pete

Just got off the phone with Pamela Anderson. She said she'd come visit, but she's already booked as a hostess during some upcoming Robotech convention. Man. Those Robotech guys. Their franchise is so powerful. Holywood rushes to churn out Blockbusters before Robotech comes in to steam roll the competition, and they even have Pamela Anderson on board. Man. Macross is hopeless. Face it guys. We can't compete. I mean - let's start off with the fact that our favorite anime is in a foriegn language - and it's not even like Mexican or something but it's Japanese. I mean - come on. How many people watch Japanese movies? I mean the only Japanese movie that I think is popular in America is Chuck Norris or something. Next we have Robotech's epic space opera which as we all know was the springboard for other shows like Star Trek. Oh - what's the use? You are all so blinded by your Macross Puritanism that you won't listen to me anyways. I like Macross, seriously. It's a decent quality piece of work - but man...it just can't compete with the genius of Robotech. Pete

You mean this one? : http://www.goodpen.com.tw/merchandise/3/Ba...1004_155672.htm I had the MG kit of that and, as I noted above in the review of the 2.0 - I just didn't like it. Got nothing against KA - heck, I love his Unicorn Gundam...although the non-poseable knees get annoying... but in terms of the RX-78-2...I just prefer it to look like what I see in the anime Maybe it's not as super advanced and complex as later Gundam designs - but personally - I think it's really neato. Pete

Uf. Finally had the heart to finish assembling this guy. Yeah - you read that right. Depressing weather has, of late...been depressing. I've been trying to fight depression by going to the gym, and I know that building Gundams also helps. Lately going to the gym has been easier than building Gundams, which demands more patience than working out and is only rewarding in the long run... anyways - finally managed to do it today... and viola. As usual, I still have to build the weapons. I was on the fence - to panel line or not to panel line - but I decided ultimately against it because in the anime, he wasn't very "panel lined" anyways - more often than not the robot was pretty smooth imo... Some thoughts on the version 2.0: I clearly prefer the inner frame on this guy to anything that has come before, particularly the KA which as far as Mastergrades go did not deserve the name. It was a joke. Pretty much NO inner frame - or at least a fear of giving him an inner frame because you had to fit the core fighter somewhere. This new inner frame, which is also used on the JIM version 2.0 just kicks ass. It's really clever; the hydraulics on the shoulders and on the feet are wonderfully complex, and they even managed to make the knee mechanisms interesting. Double jointed hydraulic elbows are also a big win. That said, the model does suffer from some delicacy issues which is a shame because it's such a simple design that I was hoping it would allow for rougher handling - kind of like my Zaku II and JIM do. But the Gundam's core fighter has pretty loose wings and the sliding plate/hatch on the main body which can open to reveal the internal core fighter cock pit basically has only gravity holding it down. This is a bummer because if you wanted to pose your Gundam doing a back flip...the hatch would give you trouble. But whatever. Finally an RX-78-2 that LOOKS like the freaking anime model rather than being some kind of departure from it towards "less embarrassing" interpretations. I'm a big fan of the version 2.0s on this score. The "industrial" looking KA version was not really Gundam. The vents on the chest were totally innacurate to the anime, and the knees were all wrong, not to mention the shield. The four rocket packs rather than the simple two that the real Gundam has also sucked. This guy I like because he looks exactly like the animation model. And I EVEN kind of like the fact that the GYM is more durable than he is, since Gundam is, after all, just a prototype... Anyways, tomorrow I'll build the weapons... Then it's on the new new Gouf version 2.0! Really looking forward to that one. Pete

Hm. Ok. My turn: IMHO I would think that Pamela Anderson would have the hots for me if she only knew me. That's why she's done everything in her power to not come to Poland. It's because deep down, she feels that if she does, she'll stumble upon me and end up giving me a blow job. And personally, I think she realizes this and has dreamed about me. If you look at the raggedy "getting old and unkempt" look that she has recently been photographed in - Fox claimed it was just an example of her "off duty" so to speak - but the truth is that was after a night of wet dreams full of me me and me only. I mean - what man would Pamela Anderson chose to be with these days? A rich holywood millionaire? A rock star? A hot shot business man? Or me? Why clearly she craves me because I'm just that cool. I'm betting that all of Pam Anderson's suitors are quaking in their boots because they know she's dreaming about me and that one day she'll get on a plane, fly here, and find me and marry me. Yes, it's quiet now. But I'll have a lot more to say in the future. Pete

I dunno. The problem is that the animation in Macross 7 is not really that much better than in SDFM TV. And SDFM TV is good animation the the standards of the time it was made. Meanwhile, Macross 7...well... let's just say that there's a reason why Gainax stole the show in the 1990s me thinks...er...besides their great story lines... Pete

Well - I will never forget how I slowly fell in love with Ranka as the series progressed. And I NEVER expected her to become a star singer - honestly. Maybe I'm blind and naive, but when she lost the Miss Macross concert, I thought - she is destined to forever be the cute waitress with big dreams...Man...when episode 12 rolled around and she came in and saved Alto and the others with her song... I was totally surprised and thought it was cool. I dunno...that's just one character...Ozma is pretty memorable too... I really liked how him and Cathy get back together towards the end of the series... The only characters who were kind of footnotes were Brera, Klan Klan and Grace - who towards the end was suddenly reveaed as the main "bad guy" - but you can't really say she was a character that was developed... I dunno... but overall I loved the characters... they were great. Pete

I agree. I just read that - and I think it's wonderfully subtle. A++ Pete

Yawn. I don't understand all the hate. Yes - the poem is funny but... Guys.... look - nobody is forcing you to buy the stuff. I decided a while ago that I don't like TFs anymore. When I did like them, I used to play with them ALOT. I would be writing up stories, and taking pictures, and working on comics with them and it was great. Then at some point for a variety of reasons I won't repeat here I just stopped liking them. Then they sat on my shelves...and sat...and sat...and sat. And one fine day I figured - meh - since I derive no pleasure form owning them anymore - I would rather liquidate the collection - and I did. Now I'm down to probably my last one or two TFs that need to be sold and it's asta la vista. Maybe in future, if a new toy line comes out that captures my fancy, I'll get back into them. Oh - and just so it's not just about TFs.. Yamato's 1/48 line. I had only 4 of those because I was late to the party. THen the version 2.0s show up, I get one. I love it. I also get M0 and M+ valkyrie in the 1/60 scale. It naturally occurs to me that it would be better to have my VF-1s in 1/60 scale as well. So I sold the 1/48s. I don't understand all the anguish. These are just toys and figures. They are meant to bring you joy. They are like women. A new improved younger model is just down the corner, although sometimes a used, slightly battered vintage model has that wonderful quality that you just can't find in newer models. Either way - there is no hold on you. Buy, sell. Keep what you like. Get rid of what you don't like. Stop treating these things as if they were the holy grail. The producers certainly don't. They work their butts off to make the 1/48 and then...they go back to the drawing board and try to make something better - the v.2 1/60. And good - because it's cool to get better and better stuff. I'm as sentimental as the next guy - and so I really like to TRY to tailor my collection in a way that I only have what I truly like - inresepctive of whether it's new or old. But face it - right now there's a lot of competition to make the best version of older stuff we love. You just have to choose. And sometimes you'll choose wrong and you'll want to let something go. No biggie. But yeah, nice poem NBM. Pete

Sorry for the double post, but I just got this done! Enjoy fellow Haruhists! Hm....on reflection, I should have given Mikuru her guns... it's just she doesn't need them, since looks CAN kill Pete