VFTF1

Yamato makes line-art accurate perfect transformation figures in a large scale for a niche market, and they are a niche company. Their products have had qc issues in the past and continue to do so. There have also been vast improvements in qc as well as in design and execution of the products. Takara makes inaccurate representations of Transformers (even the Masterpiece are not line art accurate since the line art is so self-contradictory that there might as well not be any often). They are one of the biggest companies in Japan. Comparing the two is kind of pointless. The YF-21 belly can and does close. There is nothing wrong with it. It is highly unlikely that you had a faulty or defective model. More than anything, what makes Yamato products complicated is that it is extremely difficult to memorize every single move and shove and push and pull and bend and twist you need to do or make to transform the figure. Transformers are made to be put back together if you pop something off. True. They sacrifice accuracey and aesthetics to child safety and durability. Transformers are for children - or at least they are made with a view to children. Macross is made for adult collectors who are also often times modelers and big time pimps who understand how to handle a woman or an airplane very delicately so as to get maximum joy from her without breaking her. Pete

Just about everything that Bri has written is what I would have written, so I'll just let Bri speak for me. All I'm going to add from myself is this: If I could walk into the store here in Warsaw and buy all of the Macross DVDs legally, and get CDs of Yoshiki Fukayama concerts that I could play in my car while crusing with my girlfriend - I would do it in a heart beat. If I could import DVDs and CDs from a far away land and know that they'd actually work on the CD players and DVD players that are used in this country - I would. But I can't. Although - I do know that the Japanese BW Transformers DVDs that came with Takara-Tomy BW TFs from Japan DO work on my laptop DVD player... Does that mean if I bought a Macross DVD or CD from Japan, it would work too? And are there any legal Macross DVDs that have english subs? Pete

Yeah... Mylene from Macross 7 is missing... But you need to add Vefidas as well. She flew in a two-seeter with Roy Lovelock. ...now I'm going to take a moment of time to consider this extremely important issue before casting my vote and justifying it with innane banter... Pete EDIT: Ok - I voted for Misa. I actually have now started thinking that she was jealous of Minmey in DYRL. The reason she was so crass towards Hikaru was because in secret she wished some guy would take HER out in a VT-1 to check out Jupiter. Also, she flies like Sheryl, so it's better to have her in the back seat I dunno... It would be romantic to fly around with Misa I think

The last piece of technology I had that went nowhere was my ex-girlfriend. Ironically, she was a newer model. I got rid of her and upgraded to a slightly older and used version and beyond the usual bumps in the road associated with this type of product, she's been working perfectly for five years now. Pete

Silverhawks were at least better than Thundercats though... at least the theme song was better. And didn't they use guitars to pilot their...er...bird airplane..things? Pete

Most of these have been mentioned before - but here's my list and why: 1. Ghostbuster Real Gear. Now - they weren't actually CALLED "real gear" - but that's what it was. Sure, I liked the toys too, the figures, Ecto-1, the ghosts and monsters...but I LOVED the idea of dressing up as a Ghostbuster. Sadly, I never managed to get the Photon Pack, even though the thing was just amazing. I did, however, have the Ghost Trap, which had a reeeaaally short cord, but was still wonderfully show accurate. I also had the one proton blaster without the pack, but with the "slide show" feature - where you could make it shine the images of various ghosts onto walls and then activate a zapping feature 2. PHOTON! Heeellooo!!?! Does NO ONE remember this amazing TV show?! The toys were awesome too - by which I mean the gun, hemlent and the whole fun of chasing eachother around trying to zap eachother out of existance. Sure, there was also Laser-Tag - but I always prefered Photon for the glam rockin' eye-liner and lipstick wearing bad guy. 3. Inhumanoids: Mentioned above - and indeed - these were some of the best toys out there - at least the monsters. The human protagonists...not so much. I always felt their exo-suits were just way dis-proportionate and I could never figure out what any of the "equipment" was there for... But the creatures themselves - Tendril, Magm...Magmar? ...ANd that dude with the rib cage - FAR OUT!! I also loved the tree guys; Redwood especially for some reason. And the rock people - those were some great er...rock people! Finally - I had the "twins" - the one who was made of dried molten rock and the other one who was made of live volcanic magma... Although it's a pity the actual toy didn't work out as well.. Still - I accidentaly left the Magma guy under a lamp and...the plastic really did melt... 4. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles I loved these toys. There was just so much fun in them. They were relatively poseable, very well sculpted and featured lots of zanny fun accessories. I don't think there was ANY Turtle toy that I was ever dissapointed in. 5. Robotech And of course - the main reason why I'm hear; the greatest toy line EVER. In fact, the greatest achievement of humanity: Robotech. A breathtaking original story by Jack McKinney and Kevin Macintosh telling the epic tale of Rick Hunter, Lisa Hayes and Luke Skywalker. I will never forget when I got my first Robotech toy. I was totally hooked! And the best part? Made in USA baby! Thank you Harmony Gold! Pete

Yeah... I read all the online ranting about "mould degeneration" on Bruticus, and about how it's just a repaint of Ruination..and I don't believe it. Regarding the "mould degeneration" - I see absolutely no sign of it. That is to say; I see no sign of anything bad in these figures beyond what was "bad" in the original G1 line anyways. But complaining that your reissue retro 80s toys have the same faults of the original 80s toys is...well...beside the point. As for it being a repaint of Ruination.... I don't think so, because Encore Onslaught has a spring-loaded feature that was absent on Ruination as well as on the Hasbro Bruticus. In fact, the only Onslaught toy to EVER have this spring loaded feature in the 80s was....Scramble City Onslaught, that is to say - the Japanese version of the toy. So what we have here is a pure Japanese Bruticus toy, which is fine by me. Pete

Just imagine how much worse it could have been. Gundam Wing could have been brought over as Robotech: Revenge of the Sentinels. Pete

Well, I finally got around to opening my Encore Bruticus and putting all the stickers on the Combaticons. Dag. I gotta admit that I LOVE the stickers in G1 toys. They are just so wonderfully retro! Not just by virtue of being stickers instead of molded details, but also because they are usually so ridiculously zany. Vents are ok, but what I love is when the sticker features what appears to be lights and criss-crossed wires It's like "internal robot organs" that have no armor on them or something... It's silly but it's fun. It seems o have been added to make them all look more "robotic" or something I haven't noticed any signs of mold degeneration at all. I am also thrilled that they used the Ruination weapons design because I do actually prefer to be able to stick ALL the extra parts onto Bruticus (even found a nifty place for Brawl's double barrel gun!) and it really makes the figure look all the more imposing and heavily armored (which, for a COMBATicon is something I want)... I'm happy. I always loved this combiner team. I like the fact that it says Scramble City on the box too. I am really impressed with the Encore line. Much better than TFC thanks to the retro boxes! Pete

Well - I ended up NOT getting that after all Instead, I got a Mazda 626 voyage sedan. 10 years old, automatic drive, air conditioning, 125 KM, hatchback. No picture yet, but I have been all over the place in it and it's in great condition Yay. Yep. I just got my drivers license and this mazda is my first car Cost me only 4 thousand bucks Pete

Ok, time to come clean. My name is Kevin McKeener, aka Memo/aka VFTF1. I don't actually live in Poland. I live in Hong Kong, which is why my prices on Valkyries are so damn good. I moved here and adopted a number of fake aliases; both online and in the real world, to hide my true identity from the Proto-Cult. What is the Proto-Cult, you ask? Some of you know the answer, and are probably shocked that I even dared to write the term - but I have been diagnosed with Herpies (although you woul never tell just by looking at me) and am about to turn 31. My life is pretty much over, and I can't go on like this forever. Some ghastly truths need to have the light of day shown on their black horror-filled night. This is certainly one of them. The Proto-Cult as soom of you know and others wouldn't know unless I told them is a secret society of Honduris based lawyers, who have a front company in Canda and who pull the strings in a world wird conspiracy to foster never ending internet flame wars between people who have never met one another and would otherwise be peaceful and happy friends. The reason they do it? I don't know. I really don't. I found out about the Proto-Cult, like some of you, when their goons started shadowing me on a daily basis. Yes, the same odd 45 year old, slightly perverted looking men in tenchcoats would "coincidentially" show up on the same bus as me, in the same metro-car, at the same night club. Once, As I was exiting the toilet at a local pizza hut, one such trench-coated old man was waiting to use it as I came out... Then the internet "spam" comes - although as soon as you start reading it, you realize it's not your usual spam. The letters are filled with personal info about you that nobody could possibly know unless they'd thoroughly spied on you. Ransacking your house, adulterizing your wife, burning your car, tampering with the breaks on your bycicle, or putting a sign on your back that says "Kick Me" - they do it all. Just to let you know they're watching you. As some of you know - it is only when you discover the Proto-Cult that they come after you. I discovered the Proto-Cult while on a day trip to LA with Shaloom, who was en route to Japan for another brainstorming session with Kawamori about Macross Frontier. We happened to meet at the airport and he noticed I had "Macross Forever" tatooed on my left butt cheek. This got us to talking and he presented me with the Ohnogi interview from the 2007 edition of OtakuFansBoys, the hit underground Japanese otaku magazine that published on one issue before going bankrupt, and the issue just happened to contain this interview where Ohnogi revealed how he had worked on numerous projects related to Macross. Shaloom seemed to assume that because I had Macross Forever tatooed on my left butt cheek, therefore I was ipso facto a Macross fan. And in my heart of hearts, I was. But, remember, I'm Kevin, not Pete, and I was deeply involved in the production of Robotech III: "Ace of Skulls" (a super production that would have been a multi-billion dollar hit - the script was written, Michael Bay was interested in directing - everything was ready to go, but it fell through in the end). Nobody had ever seen my tatoo before - at least nobody who knew what it meant - if they had - it would have been the end of me. Sadly, I never realized that the Proto-Cult had been tailing Shaloom, and that through him, they got wind of my butt cheek Macross tatoo. This was the end for me. I had to flee the country. For a time, I lived in a remote South American village and fell in love with a beautiful, innocent virgin. I forgot the cares of the world and birthed six children with her. But then the Proto-Cult got to me. They slaughted the village with bulldozers with machines gun turrets and then cut down the rain forrest. I was on the run again. No matter where I went to start over, the Proto-Cult would eventually find me and destroy those I loved and anything I'd built. They were merciless in executing their revenge for my Macross butt cheek tatoo. They figured that it would be better if I were elminated, and my legacy as a Robotech Creator were left unstained by the horrible truth that deep down, I'd been a Macross fan all along. Now, having recovered recently from excessive plastic surgery performed on an oil rig in international waters off the philipines and paid for by taking part in lewd sex acts video-taped for pornography on that oil rig, I have returned to Hong Kong and pass my time as a humble rice merchant. It was at this time I recently discovered my herpies; no doubt contracted on the oil rig - I think I even know who I got them from. In any case, I itch, and my life is ruined. And it's all because of Harmony Gold. Long live Macross. Do your worse Proto Cult! -Kevin

If you seriously want to poll us, then my opinion is that you should remove the missiles, put in a spring, and on that spring put a miniature little yellow "pop out snake" with a red head, a uni-brow, and a few bits of hair on his head that goes "pfff!" and springs out at people whenever Thundercracker opens the missile bay hatch. Pete

I stand corrected. I need to see that movie; it looks like it's pretty much a good copy of my life... Pete

I also watched Sighs I, and I have mixed feelings about it. It felt like something that, if this was a movie, would be a prime candidate to be cut from the final film. It's kind of like all the mundane and drawn out stuff that we don't need to see in a story before getting to the stuff that we do need to see. Nagato "agreeing" to use literature club funds for the film project felt like the scene was saying "QUE NAGATO SLOW, MECHANICAL RESPONSE TO UNDERSCORE HER ALIEN/DATA ENTITY INTERFACE NATURE". Asahina worried about whether she could do well as an actress... is there ANYTHING Asahina doesn't worry about? And... the utterly worse exchange between Kyon and Haruhi in a long long time. The entire beginning - with the drawn out walk to the club room where the characters feined their sterotypes was just so boring and full of pathos. Haruhi was "being her usual self"... but why? In what way? What was the context (as Kyon would ask) - it just seemed like they were relying too much on facial expressions and not enough on anything actually going on... and it took them like forever to get to the club room...and it was so pointless. Maybe it's a bit ridiculous to call a small fragment of an episode "pointless" after Endless Eight, but at least Endless Eight was beautiful, and the episode itself could never become gratting as much as the simple process of repetition was grating... And then going to the mall and Haruhi "negotiating" for all that stuff... I dunno - to me - this episode kind of kills the wonder of The Adventures of Asahina Mikuru, because it's just ...it's like if Shakespeare went and wrote "Hamlet, Part II" where we got to see Hamlet discuss the weather with one of his guards, and then Hamlet eating fried Chicken over an open fire one night, and then Hamlet discussing ghosts and the occult with a Priest, and then Hamlet taking a stroll in the woods and marveling at the sunset... It's like...ok...that's nice if you're a Hamlet fan and you get off on just seeing your favorite character in ANY context because you always wanted to know "what would it look like IF Hamlet did X, Y and Z" ... but from the point of view of the plot...it's like...so...what did this contribute? In previous episodes, there was enough novelty in each out-of-sequence episode that even if you were watching the "prelude" to something you'd already seen, and therefore the prelude seemed "moot" - it wasn't - because something would happen in that prelude which itself would be a prelude to a future episode OR a resolution of a situation that WE would see in the future (sequentially) but which happened in the PAST relative to the episode at hand. But... what nuggets did we find in sigh? Oh. We find that it's really aptly titled. SIGH. Pete

I feel like a fish out of water amidst all of this movie discussion but... Can someone explain to me about Dinoking/Monstructor? Am I to understand that the inner-robot is the same for both, only Dinoking has Dinosaur Pretender Shells while Monstructor has those...Monster things? And...are the inner robots all really Micromaster size? If so - how can Dinoking fight Starsaber who is so big? Help! Pete

And here I was thinking Macross Frontier would have been better WITH some Hentai scenes... Oh well... interesting how different people are Pete

In Honor of the new thread I sing: "TUUUWWWANSFOM! GATTAI! POWA-UPPPUUU!!!" Been watching Victory! :-) 1/3 of the way in... Pete

I would hate to be a parent charged with buying the right Transformer for my kid... I can see how this would get confusing real fast... Although it does remind me of why I would ALWAYS turn down offers of "how about I buy you A Transformer for [insert Christmas/birthday/etc]?" "A Transformer" usually meant the random risk of me being given something I already have or something I don't particularly want... Then again, I did get Powermaster Optimus Prime for Christmas... but I think my mum got that for me just because it said "Optimus Prime" on the box and didn't realize the epic coolness of Powermaster Prime Pete

I would comment profusely since I have strong views on this issue, but unfortunately I would be breaking the rules... so...hm... how to say this... crap. there is no way to say it. she and her husband should be free. that's the best I can do. No further comment. Interpret that for what it's worth Pete

I got word that it's out today. But then again, this could be a misunderstanding... Or maybe that means it's literally in the door. In any case, I guess we'll find out real soon. Pete

I have to agree with Kieth. I can't see any redeeming features to what HG is doing. It's not protecting its' trademark - it's trying to weazle a monopoly on a trademark and exploit the general weakness of the anime market in the USA. The sad fact is that it is not in Big West's financial interest to have an all out legal battle with HG over the US market for Macross because the anime market in America is miniscule and because companies like Yamato make their money off of US customers just fine without needing to have the actual US trademark/license - so why would they enter into truly protracted litigation for this? Also - it is my personal opinion that the Japanese really don't care enough about the US market or foriegn markets as such to invest big bucks in establishing fir legal footholds therein. After all - the vast majority of anime would have to be radically censored to get on American television (not some cable channel, or sci-fi, or late night or adult swim - but on TV like other "tv-toy promotion" shows") - so why bother? Even if they managed to win with HG - they'd STILL have to censor their stuff and cut it, and change it to fit the regulations of the American market. And since 90% of the anime fandom in America wouldn't want that - then they would STILL be downloading the original with subs rather than watching the radically altered and possibly badly dubbed licensed properties that hypothetically would be mass marketed in the USA. One of the main reasons for the success of Japanese anime is - IMO - because the companies in Japan have focused on created a truly superior product and not caring about whether or not it can be legally marketed in America or to what extent or whatever. And this has paid off because in this day and age it's enough to market it heavily in Japan and people throughout the world will gain knowledge and interest via the internet. HG is part of a dyin industry that is trying to sustain itself using laws and regulations instead of the qualityo f a product. But the fact that along the way they are bullying retailers and hurting the small anime market in America is of course annoying (and rightly so) to Macross fans in the USA. Pete

You know, Rick Hunter, the hero that this forum is dedicated to, who galliantly piloted his VE-1 Gaurdian Battletech Autobot Transformer fighter into battle against Cobra's Terrordrome and saved Lisa Hayes from Darth Vader's cousin, Captain Crunch, and his evil Henchman Major Bludd, and then flew to the Savage land where they recovered those Animorphs that turned into Dinosaurs - Grim Rock, Swoop Rock, Slag Rock, Snarl Rock, and the Rock Lords as well as those Rock guys from the Inhumanoids series which was a Marvel comics spin-off comic based on the Invid Invasion/Sentinals. Duh. I mean - I am actually shocked, shocked, that so few people remember that epic movie Star Fighters with Mark Mammal and Clint Eastwood which featured the revolutionary VE-1 fight designed by famous Japanese super mecha designer Yoko Kano. Pete

Gubaba - there's also one other thing that people can use to judge whether information is on the level or not - and it's NOT posting source material or scans... it's actually just the willingness to engage in conversation. If someone started digging to check YOUR sources and came up with something that brought into question anything you'd written, I highly doubt you'd run away and put your head in the sand, and then come back a couple of weeks later with a long letter about being at work, not having access to the boards, having your grandmother ask you to clean her apartment, the weather being poor, needing to get your car fixed and oh you were just kidding or in error about some of what you wrought but no big deal now let's forget about it and by the way I'm changing the admins on the site. I think that for most people - a more important indicator that they have a reliable source is just the willingness to continue the discussion. People who are just interested in something and share what information they have usually react with HAPPINESS when someone else comes along to question the validity of that information. This is because the goal here is to know more about the Macross series you love, so anyone who can contribute to that is good. I guess my point here is - you actualyl don't need to suddenly feel obliged to post copious scans of everything and footnote your posts. It's enough that when doubt comes up, you (or anyone) is able to point to a source. No need to let this Shaloom's behavior create a paranoia where anyone who wants to share information from original Japanese sources now suddenly will be faced with skepticism and required to "prove" everything from the get go. We need some common sense trust here - and one bad incident shouldn't shake that. Honestly - I would prefer that people like you spend their time just working on material like you have been and don't get overly burdened or paranoid about referencing EVERYTHING so that nobody can accuse you of "making stuff up" In the end, if someone makes a mistake or overlooks something - which can always happen - and another person corrects him in time - that is to be welcomed. Pete

Just ask yourself: what would Rick Hunter do? Pete

start at 50 bucks and go from there Pete