captain america

... That's the exact look on my face when I heard about this whole mess. I still have a hard time believing that Tanmen would be such a screwball like that. Talk about lack of personal or professional integrity, REGARDLESS of his political opinions. Ironically, he makes money by sculpting/selling models of war machines... Talk about being a hypocrite

If Valkyrie/Macross toys were made "here" ( north America), they'd most likely be double the retail price they are now. Do you have any idea what the salary gap is between north-american workers and chinese workers? Whether it's branded Yamato or Toynami, both toys are manufactured in China and exported to their desired markets. MPC OPTIMUS Prime: part of the Transformers franchise, which, like it or not, has a much, much greater fan base than Macross, Mospeada and Robotech combined. Bigger market = more units produced = R & D costs amortized over larger production run = lower unit cost. This combined with the fact that Hasbro has key distribution in retail chains that market toys as lost leaders = even lower retail price.

...A special edition Toynami Invid series with metallic paint and light-up eye! ...And when you squeeze the Gurab's tummy, it says "bite my shorts man"--Oops! Wrong sound chip! Seriously though, this belongs in "Other Anime & Sci Fi."

Just prior to the release of Yamato's 1/60 VF1s, I believe that Graham had divulged that a MACROSS/SDF-1 was surprisingly low in demand amongst fans...If you recall, Yamato actually had a little poll going on on its website 2-3 years ago inquiring about what fans would like to see made. the Macross was virtually at the bottom of the list. Probably the reason it hasn't been/won't be tackled.

To be perfectly fair on this matter, George Sohn/Toynami aren't getting $80.00. You must remember that the toy goes from the manufacturer to the distributor, and then to the retailer; all of which need to make a mark-up to make a living. The Manufacturer sets the MSRP based on feedback from distributors & retailers telling them(roughly) what the market will bear, and then work backwards to manufacture a toy for a maximum specified price, to which the manufacturr makes its mark-up & so on. I think what a lot of people don't realise is that large stores like Wal Mart and Target have different pricing policies regarding toys than smaller stores. To large chains, toys are considered lost leaders, and are often priced at cost or even slightly BELOW cost: the logic behind this is that the large retailers both--crush any other competitors carrying the same item, and also LURE buyers into the store for the low-priced toy, knowing that these same people, once in the store, will most probably also buy other things ( garden hose, candy, DVD player, etc) on which the store makes a much greater mark-up. Small collector stores, like Kevin, Spidey, etc. are much more limited in their buying power, and carry far fewer items/skus, so they can't really afford to sell items at/below cost: they have to make a mark-up just to stay afloat. Since the MPC Alpha is essentially aimed at collectors and collector shops, there chances of seeing them at $54-59.99 are very slim. That having been said, if demand suddenly falls-short, it's the retailer that usually takes the hit by selling them at reduced prices. This having been said, Toynami is very obviously milking the item for all it's worth. Based on the Veritech MPC, they use very cheap plastics and cut corners on the tampon printing, not to mention a few other things. About the only way to get these items cheaper is to hold back from buying the item at full price. If retailers can't sell as many at full mark-up, they will most likely order fewer of the second batch, or squeeze the distributor for a better price, who will in turn squeeze Toynami for a better price at the source. The flip-side to this is that poor sales MAY send a message to Toynami that the item isn't popular enough, and they may cut later skus, thus depriving fans of other variants, and most certainly the BETA. It's hard to say just how poor sales would affect Toynami, but I get the impression from all of their promotion, that they're committed to producing the Alphas one way or another; they'd look like dolts if they pooped-out half-way through the skus and called it quits. Besides, they need the higher sales numbers to offset production costs, so my advice would be to hold out if possible, and if you simply MUST buy it, try to get it at the lowest possible price... Let them know that you, as a consumer, don't appreciate being gouged. The only way to get through to a company is to poke them in the wallet.

Regult please Actually, I'd buy pretty much whatever they release; male power armor, fighter pods & all, they're all good choices, though some would obviously sell better than others. If I MIGHT possibly make a projected suggestion: if Yamato DO make a Regult, I think it would be a wise move to make the Zentradi pilot articulated; the cost increase would be neglegeable, and the added bonus of being able to stand/display the pilot next to the pod goes a long way in the eyes of the target consumers/collectors. That was about the only drawback with the Miria figure included with the Queadluun Rau, but it's not enough to detract from the toy and I'll end up buying one anyway... Just make sure you keep 'em coming Yamato

Hi Legios. Yamato doesn't make any Mospeada toys. On the subject of anime line art accuracy, my Legioss design is very different from the source material, I never said otherwise; there are a lot of segments/details that aren't "accurate" to the anime, and this is precisely the way I wanted it. The anime style sheets were a starting/reference point, to which I made alterations and added features (H/I flare dispensers, a boarding ladder, wing slats, ankle-armor speedbrakes, etc...) that suited my OWN view of what a Legioss should be... A Legioss--"Moscato ver", if you prefer. With regards to radars, escape velocity, pointed nosecones and such, I'm not an engineer or a scientist, just an artist. However, when it comes to mecha that transform from transatmospheric aircraft to giant robots, I think it's safe to say that "realism" flew out the window long ago. The idea of a "transforming" mecha is little more than an entertaining flight of fancy that has very little grounded in reality, so I don't get bent out of shape worrying about these things. Rather, my aim was to take the original concept, and subtlely implant little details that allow people to more easily relate to it and think it MIGHT be real. For example, my Legioss model is dotted with rivets. Completely obsolete by even modern standards, as epoxies & adhesives can do the same job with greater strength and less weight, but when people see rivets and stressed-skin, they almost automatically think "aircraft" and "realistic details." Besides, they just plain look cool, and looking cool is what sci-fi models are born to do.

Hi Indigo. Your conversion is absolutely great, I love it!! Honestly, I'd disagree with the comments to delete the red hot section lines on the legs, I think they tie-in nicely with the red on the V-tails, and i'd even offer a further suggestion: have you contemplated possibly putting the "Felix & The Bomb" cartoon on the heatshield? This and having the heatshield in red would really distribute color more uniformly, but even without, your job is still excellent--kudos! I'd personally love to see other conversions using existing squadron markings

Hi Rocco. The software I used for the image flop was Corel Photo Paint; probably version 8. I'm sure there are better and cleaner ways to achieve what I did and if anyone would like to try, they're more than welcome As for finishing the model, I've never ruled it out; in fact, I intend to finish it for myself when I have some free time. Until then, it will collect dust, sealed in its cardboard box in the far corner of my garage. This model is sort of like Elvis: most everyone rightly assumes that it is dead in its tracks, mourns and moves on. However, there's always a small group of resilient loyalists who swear it's still secretly alive. Every once in a while someone thinks they hear some new tidbit, or see part of it in the corner of a photograph. Some even claim that they own parts of it and are working on finishing it even now. Who's telling the truth? Who's right? And more fundamentally, what do you believe to be true?

Actually, the "photoshop" job is mine, and a rather pitiful one at that; really not my forte. Just a little pinhole-opening of insight as to why my Legioss design has a short/stubby nosecone: I conciously and intentionally made it that way for three reasons. Primarily, it was so the Armored Soldier wouldn't have some obscenely-long "cubumber" clanging against his calves. It also makes for more liberal posing of the legs. Second, as per contemporary fighter/attack aircraft trends, newer technology/miniaturization allows for lighter, more compact electronic components, and if we project foreward into the "Mospeada" timeline, roughly 2080-ish, the radar/fire control system/mission computers would be quite small indeed, and thus wouldn't require such a large nose/foreward fuselage to accomodate them. Lastly, the shorter nose allows for improved foreward visibility; especially at high AoA. This, combined with the high seating position/low canopy sills provides the pilot with excellent all-round visibility. Well, about as good as you can get with those enormous LEXs and the missile pod/shoulders blinding your 5 & 7 O'clock

"Comparing a garage kit that would have cost well over $300 to a mass produced toy isn't realy fair. They're two completely different animals." Yes and no. The comparison shot was mainly to show the difference in proportions/aesthetics, not details. Whether you engineer a toy with "nice" proportions or bad ones, the price and the work is the same; the only difference is in the talent of the person executing the work. Once you delete all the open access hatches and reinforce certain small joints on the 1/32 model, you can very easily convert it to a toy, since the outer shapes have no undercuts, and would pantograph-down to a smaller scale very easily. Nevertheless, Toynami did what worked best for them, and though the overall proportions leave me flat, I hope that the Alpha toy will be a success and ensure future Mospeada/New generation skus; a win-win situation for them and for the fans.

Though I may be in the minority, I beg to differ on the statement that the sculpt looks fine, and the item IS overpriced. A cursory evaluation of similar items with similar sizes/features/parts complexity shows that you can obtain items of similar or better caliber for roughly one third the price of the MPC. Granted that the Alpha MPC has yet to hit shelves, the track-record of previous releases in the line leaves a great deal to be desired... if anything, let's hope they at least move-up to a better quality of plastic; the one they used for the Veritechs was absolutely appalling. ...And back to the sculpt, I think the picture below properly conveys my statement on the issue.

One thing elludes me... Toynami seem to want to keep the "Masterpiece" toys in a continuous scale. However, if you take the Alpha and place it in the regular MP book/box, it will have an ENORMOUS amount of empty space around it. For those of you who have the superposeables, the MP will be roughly the same size. Just take that & place it in the MP Veritech box... See what I mean? From a marketing PoV, would it not simply have been more intelligent to forego scale continuity just to have a larger, more price-justifiable toy in a box that promotes ITEM/SERIES continuity? Just short of having a "mini MPC" box specifically for the Alphas, it may look quite awkward. It may just be me, but it seems that they like creating marketing problems for themselves.

In what way? It looks close to the line art to me in fighter. The wing chord is waaay too short, and the feet stick-out quite far at the rear.... And that's just for starters The way all the wings & sections mate to each-other is also quite atrocious: horrendously-huge hinge points for the shoulder sensor pod cover and the wing-fold mechanism; not to mention the open-air chasm directly behind the sensor-pod cover plate. There are definitely ways to correct these issues, just as there are ways of addressing the issue of the chunky legs on the model, but they all involve considerable amounts of scratch-building which I'm sure very few people are comfortable with. In all, you'll never get a perfect variable, as the original animation line-art is itself flawed; showing different proportions for the same parts in its different modes. If a nice-looking Legioss fighter is what you seek, the Imai 1/72 model is just about your only option.

Primer will actually help you do two things on a resin model: allow you to spot tiny imperfections not readily visible on the bare plastic (pinholes, scratches, mold lines, etc) and also act as a barrier-coat that, itself, adheres to the resin, and allows paint to adhere to itself as well, whereas straight paint might not stick well to bare polyurethane (resin.) Always wash/clean your parts prior to priming though: Valkyrie's suggestion to scrub the parts with Comet or a similar product is best. Alternately, for parts that are too delicate to scrub, you can shoot them with straight lacquer thinner through an airbrush and let air-dry. Do NOT submerge resin of ANY kind in lacquer thinner or acetone, you will attack/dissolve it. A light wet-sanding with 1000-grit on larger, less-detailed surfaces will also work well.

Kool link, I'd never seen that ine before. ...Is it just me, or does "Stick" look like he's sitting on the Legioss's foot & gratifying himself in pic 15?

The 1/48 Imai model was a compromise of all three modes, and a poor one at that. About the only mode it looks decent in is Armo-Diver... Soldier mode is chunky and as the model design is twenty-odd years-old, its poseability also suffers somewhat. The 1/72 non-variable models are more nicely proportioned, and with a little kit-bashing & scratchbuilding, you can turn those into a variable model (the 3 in 1 box set is recommended). The ideal would be a 1/32 model. Maybe someone will make one someday

If they remain true to the original dimensions, it'll be about 6 inches tall in Soldier mode.

Hmm, Nemesis just reminded me... Might anyone have any sales data on how well the first MPC volumes sold? Perhaps some of our friendly-neighborhood retailers like Kevin could offer some insight into how well they've sold thus far? If anything, that could be a barometer of sorts for the Alphas.

Market tendancies can change quite drastically from one year to the other. They're definitely HOPING to be able to get $80 retail, but as with any other product, if sales start to stagnate, prices will fall to hopefully compensate. Personally, I was always under the Impression that The Macross Saga was the most popular segment of Robotech hands-down, and I'm rather curious to see how well the Alphas do overall. I'm sure they'll move like hotcakes initially, but 6 months down the road... Who knows. Toynami are making a drastic mark-up on the Alphas; even if sales go sour after a few months and they end-up having to take some stock back, they'll probably have made enough money on initial sales to cut their losses.

The fighter mode actually looks quite nice from what I can see. The end result unfortunately skews the soldier mode into looking stumpy and unimpressive. It's a personal opinion of course, but I tend to think that unlike the Valkyrie, the Legioss should be optimized for soldier mode. I think Bsu is right about them selling-out though; there's no one else manufacturing New Generation/Mospeada merchandise, so the chances are good that they'll be snatched-up. The price is still highway robbery though.

There were two kits of the VF-2JA made by B-CLUB: one fighter mode, and one battroid, both in 1/100 scale. OK sculpt, nothing amazing, but definitely nice subject matter.

Prices will all depend on precisely what you want. You need to take into consideration some of these factors: -building an existing model kit, or something from scratch? Straight build/assembly & painting, or modified? -do you provide the model, or does the builder? -determine your budget beforehand. You can get a model "built" for as little as $75.00, or well into the tens of thousands of dollars (remember that 1/72 Nimitz??) -Lastly, do you want professional work, or is it just for fun? Cheers, John F. Moscato

The Arii Zentradi ship models are worth getting simply for the box art; just disregard the pesky, worthless plastic contained within Seriously though, the little scale SDF-1 is nice, but the kits themselves fall VERY short of expectations. That's why I just scratchbuilt my own. Looks way better.

...The fact that Pixar has already announced the release date and concept behind their film and most certainly has dated pre-production shots, character designs and scripts to counter your accusations. In a court of law, evidence is golden. Speaking of which, as a rule of thumb to ANYONE presenting an idea to a secondary party, get that party to sign an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) beforehand. This will make it far more difficult for people to steal your ideas, and while it certainly isn't a perfect solution, it at least provides you with a piece of tangible evidence that the party in question has looked at, and promised not to copy your idea.