CoryHolmes

Even though it's not technically accurate, I prefer the transformation without swinging the legs forward. Fewer motions and it gives less chance/time for the VF-1 to be in a vulnerable position. Dat: Sweet texture. Now hurry up and get us some battroid mode shots!

Bah. Gimme the female Guyver II anyday

I certainly got a kick out of that Quick HLJ question, though. Their website refuses to accept my updated address info. I'll fill out all the info fields, click the submit button, and I get a message I need to fill out every field. Any thoughts?

Since when? Every 1/48th I've seen have been over $100 USD, usually for more than that.

Oh, don't tease us like that, it's not fair. I haven't even gotten my hands on this Alpha yet and I already want the SP Cyclones...

The really sad part is that automatic bashing-response is what makes it so hard for those of us that want to seriously and maturely discuss the pros and cons of Macross 7. The bashers come in, start a massive and personal flame war, getting the topic closed before the rest of us have finished with it.

Right where it is, mounted underneath the wing. Are you sure about that Cory? I have a book with line art that does picture the gun pod stored under the wing...However, according to the art the MPC Alpha currently has the gun pod under the wrong wing. Still cool that it has that feature though. Anybody else notice this? Actually, according to the lineart, the gunpod can be mounted under either wing, or even two guns on one Alpha. So technically speaking, there is no "right" wing

Just fired off an email to Toynami about the DD Alpha (an Alpha with a chest so large it interferes with normal movement ). I'll let everyone know what the answer is when they reply.

Right where it is, mounted underneath the wing.

This is really quite bizzare, but I find myself with no desire to watch the final two episodes of Macross Zero. The first three have done little to grab my attention or keep it, and I find the action scenes have none of the zip or suspence of Macross Plus. Anyone else feel this way?

The chest is dragging because the Mospeada mecha underwent hideous amounts of anime magic during transformation, with parts magically changing size between the different modes. Unfortunatly, a solid toy can't really do that, so there have been a few comprimises made. For another compromise, look at the nosecone in Battloid mode. It hangs down pretty far, even though the lineart says it shouldn't. And as for those gears, take a look at the legs of the Alpha in battloid mode. Look at the calf missle launchers. There are two launchers on the outside of the leg and one on the inside. The bottom bay on the inside of the leg, beneath the launcher, is the gear housing. EDIT: Added picture

Might want to consider Detonator Orgun. It's an older title, so don't expect state-of-the-art animation or effects, but it's a good little mecha series that manages to capture an open viewer's attention and not let go. It's plot is a little on the standard side, but has one HUGE twist that hits most new viewers like a Mac truck.

Like I said above, I think that's one of the better things he's done, in terms of the artwork. Now the characters actually have a gender instead of being androgynous stick figures.

First of all, that's speculation. Yamato has not said, "if you don't buy this, we won't make that" or the inverse. Toynami has. And if you think no one's criticisized the 1/100 VF-0, then you obviously haven't been to this thread Ah. I'd been told that it was an official pronouncement from Yamato that it was going to happen. Now that I've taken a closer look at the relevent threads, it seems to be the pervading opinion that these are just test-market toys, to see if larger and more complex toys are warrented; and that's exactly what Toynami has said. And yes, I have seen those threads and agree with most of the issues raised in them. I do surf other forums, you know

... and exactly how many times did you have to refinance your house to get that collection?

And this is news... how? Every company ever started is driven by the bottom-righthand corner of their financial statements. Businesses are ONLY around to make money, regardless of how they go about it. Factories, electronics stores, troubleshooters, anime studios, etc. are soley driven by profit and money. Anyone who thinks otherwise is mistaken, in a big way. I see no reason why Toynami would be any different. Sure, we can bitch, whine, and complain about the prices all we want, but in the end we have no say over how much THEY decide to charge for their product. All that we can do is wait and see if that price is the correct one for the toy. If not, as you've so rightfully pointed out, the price will drop with time; if it is, then the price will stay pretty constant. And I see no other company even trying to put out an Alpha toy to offer any sort of compitition in this area. I'm really thankful for any sort of new Alpha toy to come along, since I'm unwilling to shell out the many hundreds of dollars it would take to buy an old Gakken, and the Toynami version is looking much better in terms of sculpt. As for a bad marketing move... well, only time will tell about that. I'm not too happy at the MSRP, but I accept it for the moment. That's no different than Yamato and a bigger VF-0 or 1/48th GBP, while being forced to pay out for smaller and inferior toys in the meantime to test the market waters. Yet I don't see anyone raising holy hell over that, I didn't say I agreed with it, I was simply quoting the Toynami rep's words for Carl's question.

Don't forget that the 1/60th legs have been known to fall off from a battroid at the lightest gust of air stirring about the room.

Instead of nitpicking on the smallest details about how this picture sucks and the artist should rot in hell (not my personal opinion, but it does appear to be the prevealing attiude here...) why don't we look at some of the positives in this pic? I for one love the little pits and dings in the armour. Makes it look used and just-polished from the front-lines look, something that's always been missing in the animation. Something else I enjoy are the markings, decals, and insignia. Gives it a more real-world feel, especially that arrow on the arm shield, showing which direction attaches to the gauntlet. Very cool. As for the restylings... I like them. All of Yune's characters have some muscle and build to them, instead of them all looking like androgynous stick figures who's gender is only descernable through the VA. Same thing here, Dana actually looks like a believable tank-driver that went through push-up bootcamp. And same goes with the armour itself. I don't mind the restyling, regarding it as a modernization of a 20 year-old design. And maybe it's just the RT geek in me (heaven forbid, I know ) but the new armour design looks somewhat reminiscent of the CVR-3 seen in Mospeada/New Generation. A nice little bit of continuity there, I say. All in all, I enjoy this pic greatly. I wanna see the rest of the characters, and can't wait to get my grubby little eyes on the New Gen designs. Rook Bartley in CVR-3F... droolage...

Really? Is that also why they keep the price at $80? You guys will believe anything... No, they set the price to whatever they want. Basic rule of business: charge the largest amount you think you can get away with. I'm just saying that they kept the Alpha at 1/55th scale to keep it in-scale with the other MPCs and to make a matching Beta a somewhat more realistic size.

That's also why they made the Alpha so small, to make a mating Beta fighter to be a reasonable size.

Actually, Toynami HAS said that they will produce a Beta fighter, should the Alpha sales warrent it.

I gotta admit, I like the spiffy logo they chose. Nice colours.

And I applaud you for finding this site and posting it for the rest of us to see. Keeps us up to date on the happenings and debates. My problem is with the fact that this board and its denizens have a very nasty habit of taking the slightest provocations and running it into a multipage rant that amounts to little more than, "HG and everything it has ever touched with its diseased and impotent fingers sucks and should just roll over and die!". And that's before any additional information is released! I've tried to recomend this forum a few times to casual Macross fans, but they've often come back to me with complaints that MW is too elitist and quick to flame, and one person even told me that it was the most inflammatory site she'd seen. Sad to think that people could feel that way, but oh so easy to see how she could get that impression, eh? Was I trying to get into a pro/con discussion? Not really. Just trying to curb one of MWs less-than-stellar reputable habits.

5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Okay, just waiting for the enevitable bashing, cursing, and outright flaiming to slag everything RT-related before any additional information is released...

Anybody email Toynami and ask them what's up with that chest-dragging picture?