MangledMess

True, True. I suspect as much about the target audience, although I ain't that much of a fan of anime these days. Here's a thought: If Yamato is trying to sell the GNU line based on the posability of the figure, and to compete with Kaiyodo's Revoltech, then I think they still have a long way to go. IMO, what's the point of getting the GNU line if the 1/60 YF-19 can achieve the same articulation, or even better(Yeah, I tend to push the limits of the 1/60 YF-19 quite a bit back then, although I don't take as many pics as I should)? Sturdiness? That shouldn't be enough. So the target market is definitely old-school fans as mentions above as far as the GNU line is concerned. I buy a mecha action figure based on what they are and what the series line's theme/style is. Since I like Revoltech because they achieved what they were meant for(stylised action posing, doesn't necessarily means that only anime fans enjoy this. I'm sure there are some non-anime fans out there that collects Revoltechs.), I get the figure I think Revoltech does justice too. I still also like a very technical, realistic design of how a mecha will work in real life(not to mention accurate proportions), so I turned out to be an even bigger Front Mission fan than I am a big Macross and, dare I say, Transformers fan, and will buy FM toys if THEY STILL exist(dammit, rare FM toys). If I want the best of both worlds(superb articulation and technical realism, not to mention perfect transformation), I'd go for the Transformers Masterpiece/Classics line or Yamato's Macross 1/60 line, or what ever series/line that offers that. Sp basically, there's something for everyone. What I'm saying is that for a product to succeed, its' selling point must be strong and unique, with some very strong and creative advertising. Not only it will attract the target audience, but also newcomers who may or may not heard of the product in question by passing glance/word of mouth. GNU's advertising is nearly non-existent, and IMHO I don't see much of anything that makes the figure unique, that stands out from the rest. Don't tell me old-school nostalgia is the only selling point? That's why I'm buying certain figures from Revoltech: it has a unique selling point that STANDS out. I'm not trying to say people shouldn't buy GNU; It's their choice. I'm just trying to say what I see from my point of view. Then hopefully(one way or the other), Yamato will be motivated to improve the GNU line. Until then, as far as articulation and posability is concerned, Revoltech is still sitting on that comfy throne up there. I apologize for the TL;DR again. Please continue having fun.

Is it me, or does the VF-25F's head looks... chubby? Aside from that and the torso area that seems to bother me to no end(Hope that doubt goes away when they final product emerges.), it's looking good. Good to see Bandai actually putting some effort into a Macross Valkyrie. But I'll wait for the VF-25S with GBP armor. That's the one I want

LOL at the Yoga pose. Great stuff, Renato!

My impressions on both versions of the YF-19(Can't find GNU YF-21 in same gallery, so I'm leaving Guld's valkyrie out of this): After looking at these galleries, I don't get how the Revoltech YF-19's sculpt is inferior. I always see the YF-19's Battroid mode as a dynamic, bad-ass looking design, and seeing how dynamic SK's design was, the Revoltech has a much better, and dare I say, more truer sculpt for it than GNU's. But that's not saying that the GNU YF-19 is bad; The sculpt is good, it gives the impression that it's solid, and it has the advantage of having ABS plastic, so it wins there for having superior, quality materials. But in terms of sculpt and what it was meant for(dramatic action posing), The Revoltech is still my #1 choice. Though I wish Kaiyodo used better materials other than the PVC. But that's a setback I'm willing to live with, as Revoltech figures as a whole is very, VERY affordable for anyone being slaughtered by Yamato's shocking price tags. As for articulation, Revoltech has an even BIGGER edge over the GNU. If the guy behind the galleries here really explored every nook-and-cranny of the figures, then I can't see how the articulation gap between GNU and Revoltech is slight(even though the GNU is quite good, but can't see it being the same quality as Revoltech, articulation-wise). Seeing the leg articulation on the GNU YF-19 made me lean to the Revoltech's side even more. Sure, the Revoltech balljoints themselves sticked out like a sore thumb in the VF-1, but it looks a lot better on the YF-19. Plus points(though more about preference, really) for the GNU is the scale: It towers over the Revoltech YF-19, and if Yamato plans to release GNU non-transformable VF-1s in SCALE, then that's something you guys might look forward to. Kaiyodo must have forgotten that the next-generation of Valkyries are bigger in scale than the VF-1s. Oops. The paintjob on the Revoltech YF-19 looks brighter and livelier than the GNU YF-19. Maybe it could be just the quality of the images, but GNU's feels... dull when I look at it. I still see the same thing with every other picture of the GNU in the internet. I have to see in person if it looks better than the pics I'm seeing. As for quality, I'm not sure. That's why I might get the GNU and see for myself. Affordability, however, is a no-brainer. I ain't a fan of Yamato's diarrhea-inducing price tags(and QC issues, nowadays), which is the reason why I'm holding off on getting the YF-21. I'll say this again: Revoltech is very, VERY affordable. Sure, it ain't as cheap as your vending-machine gashopons, but for quality in articulation, and accessories(despite the fact that the FAST packs are miscolored. But that can be easily fixed by repainting it hehehehe), Revoltech wins. So, the short version in my POV(as for as the YF-19 is concerned): Sculpt: Revoltech Materials: GNU Articulation: Revoltech Scale(note sure this important or not.): GNU Paintjob: Revoltech for brightness. GNU just looks... dull-ish. Affordability:... um, I think that's kinda obvious. Ok, ok, it's Revoltech. Note that this is just my point of view. While I'm definitely gonna get the Revoltech YF-19, I'm thinking of getting the GNU... if I have enough in my wallet. Then I'll see if there's some extras in the GNU that's good. THEN I'll write an actual review of both figures side-by-side. But seeing how the articulations between the two figures are, I'm still in favor of Revoltech. As Mr. March has said, it's fun, fun, FUN! EDIT: ok, I'm gonna slap myself silly: I do have to see the actual GNU figure in person to see if the paint job is any better than Revoltech's. Darn pic lighting. XD

Nice collection of ships, Morpheus. I'm suddenly reminded of my Millennium Falcon and Enterprise-B that I badly painted. Might show pics of them in their current state once I took them out of the box(warning: some parts are broken and will be fixed when time lets me).

Ah, brilliant! At least here I can whore anything about Front Mission toys without opening topic after topic... Wait, I have none of those. I've been looking for the first set of Trading Arts to no avail: http://www.hlj.com/product/ENX40380 God damn it, why are those toys damn rare now?! ;_; Well, at least it gives me motivation to scratch-build my own wanzer. http://fc06.deviantart.com/fs27/i/2008/112...SealSlammer.jpg =P On the subject of LEGOS: http://ldd.lego.com/ Never tried it, but apparently you can create your own custom LEGO set using this software, send the design to LEGO, and they'll send it to you(I don't know about pricing and shipping. I think it might be depending on your custom set).

... As you should know, I just lost another pair of shatted pants to the laundry just by looking at this brilliant piece of craftsmanship. Hot DAMN.

Legaiarules put up a teaser video of the still-work-in-progress translation patch on Youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-FO-CKsRgw This is how far they are done: http://frontmission.info/wiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ProjectStatus

Oh, hot damn, that Spartan... If I want advice about scratch-building, I know who to ask.

Hmm... 1- It doesn't matter where you keep those mini-missiles. You'll have an infinite amount no matter which Valkyrie you pilot. 2- If you happen to be a young girl and a popular singer, your chances of getting the lead male at the end of the show is... ZILCH. 3- If you have long, light-colored hair and always have them get in the way of your vision, and never seem to age, you must be a genius pilot! *cough*Max*cough*

As much as I(or most Macross fans) hate it, RT is how I got to know what Macross is about. But it was Macross Plus that REALLY turned me into a Macross fan. So there.

Ah, maybe that's the question I should have posed. How do you handle epoxy putty? And what do you mean by 'machined'? You mean I have to use some sort of high-powered tool? Because I figured I could just sculpt the putty with tools like hobby knives, carving tools, bare hands, etc. EDIT: Sorry if the question sounded stupid, but I'm clueless about the use of Epoxy putty.

Hey guys and gals(... is there in MW?)! I wasn't sure where to put this, since this isn't completely Macross-related, and this is basically a post about model-building, so I think this is the best place to put it, I think. Since I don't know where or what to do, I guess some of you might know, so I try my luck with this post. ^^; Ok, I KIND OF know the basics of sculpting. I once did a table-top board game project in college that needed small figures and used paper clay(hardens fast, but fragile) to sculpt the pieces. I do know, though, when it comes to planning to build a dream mech/car/jet/transforming vehicle/babe sculpt, I need to plan it out on pencil and paper. But since this is gonna be my actual foray of scratch-building mecha and other figures that has some fuctions to them(pivots, fingers, joints): 1) What do I have to do to? Is there a Scratch-Building 101? 2) What basic materials and tools do I need? I know I need styrene for straight rectangular parts, and I think epoxy putty was mentioned as being used to sculpt parts that are roundish or organic. Is there more to this than meets the eye? Oops, TF ref. XD 3) What should I NOT do when scratch building? Thank you, people. Sorry to bother you with this Macross-less post. This enquiry is brought to by this poster's frustrations of not being able to find a toy or design that he wants or cannot afford. *cough*wanzers*cough*

Wow, that's really sad and disheartening to hear about those SW/ST/B5 communities, especially since I like all three series. *sigh* Was thinking of peeking into those boards, but hearing this just distance me from them. I'm really, really annoyed with those type of people whom can't or don't want to suspend belief with certain fiction, or in general. I mean, it's FICTION.

Ok, it's official: Either it's Bandai or Yamato, I want that awesomely brutal Full Armor VF-25! *craps his pants again*

Ok, a while back, I've notice on Kaiyodo's website an image of some pack of Revy joints in a variety of colors. How do get those? Can they only be obtain through Kaiyodo themselves(via ordering)? Because I've been searching online and found zilch. I can do a lot of stuff with those set of joints instead of cannibalizing other Revy figures. XD

Just not that I'm not part of the team, just a another lurker fan helping the translation team and the game itself get some attention it deserves. The real reason why FM5 didn't get a US release is explained in the FAQ page at said website: http://frontmission.info/wiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FAQ

Hmm... I'll definitely get the YF-19 and YF-21. Cheaper alternatives at the cost of them not being able to transform. Hey, they still make it up with the ability to pose them to the EXTREME. YF-19 KICK! I'm still mixed about the Hot Rod/Starscream Revoltechs. Maybe I'll get Starscream so he can get beaten up by Megatron over and over again(remember "Hoist Goes to Hollywood", anyone?). And hot damn, I'm still gonna pitch this in anyway: I want Front Mission's Wanzers. Like the ones here: http://www.hlj.com/images/enx/enx40380.jpg I want that Zenith. Ok, I know it seems far-fetched now, but it wouldn't hurt. XD

Since FM5 will never get a US-translated release, a group of dedicated gamers as seen in Romhacking.com (as stated by Valkyrie Hunter D), are currently working on the fan-translation patch of the game. The gameplay part is now done and the team, lead by LegaiaRules himself, are now currently working on the storyline part. http://frontmission.info <-- The FM5 fan-translation team website. Check there for updates. As for the plot(if you really wanna know the plot aside from enjoying the gameplay), you gotta be familiar with the storylines of all 4 games(from FM1st to FM4), because the game takes place over the course of several years, starting with the Huffman War in FM1st, through the eyes of a USN/UCS pilot. FM5 also supposedly ties up all loose ends and answers all questions to the plots in FM1st-FM4. Plus you have 2 cameos in the game(one who is playable if you play your cards right.) As for me, I enjoyed that game so much, it made me stop playing FM4 midway and never looked back(the game received rave reviews in Japan, touted the best of all the FM games). Lots of stuff to do here. I love the Wanzers as much as I love the Valks and the Transformers. First or second or third... all are loved equally. I'll shut up now. XD

The transformation kinda reminds me of how the YF-19 transforms, due to the torso area bending. But the VF-25's transformation looks quite fragile compare to the YF-19. So for UN Spacy, the more complicated, the more futuristic. lol.

Zapping spark? What zapp... Oh dear God. I saw it. O.O

Whoo, man, it looks even sleeker in fighter mode than I thought. Might consider this. Just hope Yamato gets around their QC problems.

ARGH!!! The roboboobs! The pinkness! The awful high heels! The LIPS!!! ROFL! God, that's an awful design even by super robot standards.

If it wasn't for that gender-bender of a main male lead, I'd be crapping my pants with joy. Sheesh, you'd think U.N. Spacy would've enforced military protocols during recruitment and have him CUT HIS hair short. Sure, Roy, Hikaru, and Max had some wild hair, but this one takes the fruit cake. That new VF looks cool, but I'll wait for more footages till I decide to really crap my pants in excitement.

Hmm, for mechs outside of Macross, I have a strong dislike for the mechs in Gundam SEED(specifically, Destiny). They look like overly decorative clowns trying to be pretty with them posing all over the solar system. Not to mention their unrealistic power level that makes them almost like super robots. Sheesh, I can never get why they have to have angel or bird-like wings to fly. The side-story Astrays in the first manga series, however, are the exception. I'm actually fond of the two main mechs, Blue and Red. Big swords may sound ridiculous where mechs are involved, but they seem to go well with them. I don't know why. Ok, for Macross, it'll be any Valk with lips and awful color schemes(VF-19 Fire Valkyrie and VF-11MAXL, I'm looking at you both >.< ). And if weren't for its' ugly battroid mode, I would've like the Cutlass. So there. That said, this is just an opinion of mine, and ain't gonna accuse anyone of liking these designs. It's really a matter of taste(spoiled by the realism the mechs from Front Mission and Armored Core has given out.).