sidearmsalpha

No. Mac+ and Mac2 were released without HG. According to HG, they weren't even aware of the release untill recently(recently being "when we started claiming exclusive rights to all things Macross"). BTW, Mac2 was originally released by a diffrent company. It only became a Manga release when Manga bought them out. Wow!!! How did this slip past HG's seemingly-smelling-anything Macross-related noses?!

yeah... Still as long as you seperate armor and rider. (transform the armor seperatly and then snap it on) things should be possible IMHO. While the old one has some odd proportions at times generally its pretty faithful to the look in all modes and I think the off proportions there are more a result of 80's toy engineering more than anything else. It's going to be interesting to see what Toynami can do with the Cyclone design. No to mention the scale. That'll be hilarious if the MPC's end up towering over the Alpha's. One thing that worries me about whether or not they will even be released are the differences between each Cyclone. Looks like Scott and Rand are the only two that had similar Cyclones. If Toynami wants to be true to the series, they can't rehash the same design by just changing the paint scheme. Also, isn't Rook's Cyclone smaller because she's smaller? If any of you have seen the prototypes of the I-Men figures (are those ever coming out?), the Cyclone figures all looked the same except for the colors.

Without having to scroll through pages and pages of this thread, I would like to know if Manga Entertainment had to get permission from HG to release Macross II and Macross Plus? I would think so, right? Anyone kind enough to answer that for me? Sorry if this seems like a stupid question.

I agree. I haven't seen anything from Energon yet that I would spend my money on. In fact, I totally passed on Armada because I think all the toys sucked. Well, Unicron looks like a likely purchase, but that will probably be the only Armada toy I'll get. It's cool that Takara still thinks about the older TF fans with regards to the reissues and the upcoming Alternators and Prime toy. Those are definitely worth looking out for. The other lines are just too kid-oriented for my tastes. I did pick up some of the RID stuff like Prime, Omega Supreme, and some of the the other cars because they reminded me of the G1 days, and I thought they were designed well.

No it is not a nit pick. It's just CHEAPER for them to keep using a poor solution instead of molding more durable shields in specific colors for each release. They probably have a couple hundred thousand pieces of those brittle clear shields in stock, just waiting for a splash of paint. You like the 1/48, you got to take it with all it's little quirks. Yeah, if it was solid and matched the color of the white plastic, that would be perfect! Sorry, to get off topic again, but ... I've noticed that all the 1/60 Valks' (I'm not sure about the -1D, VE-1, and VT-1) heatshields have that U type groove at the top. Was this in the series lineart? What about DYRL? From lineart that I have seen, it seems like only Valks that didn't have skulls on the heatshields, have that U at the top. I know that some of the Bandai 1/55 reissues had it painted on like the Max and Milia VF-1J's and maybe the CF VF-1A. I wonder if the 1/48 VF-1J will have this?

Off topic, why are the heat shields for the 1/48's painted on the inside anyway? I'm sorry if this is a stupid question.

Since I missed out on the Low Vis -1A, I would like to see a Low Vis -1S. Considering the -1A seems to have virtually sold out, I wouldn't be surprised if Yamato tried another limited Low Vis run with a -1J or, preferably, a -1S. My second choice would be a VF-1S Max. Max's blue paint scheme and VF-1S combo has long since been my favorite VF-1. I almost bought extra VF-1S's to swap out the heads and numbered wings to create a -1S Hikaru and Max. I was relieved to find out that the -1S Hikaru is on the way. It would be a cinch to bring out a Max type.

Amen to that! This cartoon totally blows! I'm a big anime fan, but I don't think that style suits these characters at all. Man, I hope the Justice League members don't make appearances in it. I'd hate to see Batman or Supes animated in that lame-ass style with exagerrated expressions.

I have a couple of friends that bought into Atari's hype of the Jaguar. Not too long after, they both blew up their Jaguar's with firecrackers. Ha! They even taped it!

Great job! Man, the one thing this kit is seriously lacking though, is the bazooka/rocket launcher that she normally carries.

I was curious, don't the VF-1J's have those notches on the base of the head lasers? This doesn't seem to be the case on this 1/48. No complaint, just an observation.

Yeah, Heidi Fleiss would make a great Baroness!

Well, if you look at earlier pics of the Elint in fighter mode, you can see that the hardpoint was easy on the eyes. Take a look at the pic on HLJ's site, and you'll see what I mean. Yamato made it this big, fugly thing in the final product. Maybe, it wasn't strong enough, so they made it bigger. I'm not as anxious to get it or the SuperO as I used to be. Think I'll wait to see if they come down some because as of right now, I'm not paying full price for these disappointments. I'll also hang onto my Bandai Chunky Monkeys since I don't think the Yamatos blow them away. More money for 1/48 Fast Packs!

Actually, I just noticed something. In the early pics of the Elintseeker such as the one still up on HLJ, you can see that those bevelled pieces on the backpack that the dish rod is attached to are much smaller and look better than the final version. I just don't get why Yamato makes changes for the worse, IMO. Here's the link to the HLJ page: http://www.hlj.com/cgi-perl/hljpage.cgi?YMTMC-17 Here's the link to Twinmoons's page: http://www.tmpforums.com/images/ve1vt1/ve1-03.jpg

For those who have the Hasegawa Elintseeker kit and have built it, does the dish attach in a similar manner to the backpack as in the Yamato version? Yes, I know it's not variable, but I was wondering how they went about designing it for the kit. I'm not feeling that ugly joint on the backpack. It's just so plain and out of place. It's as if the designer(s) didn't put any effort into making it anything more than just a place where the rod would attach to.

I think they should have just stuck with the Skyfire from the cartoon. He was already in his Cybertronian mode when they found him. He didn't look bad at all in either mode. I'm sure they could have just updated his look slightly, and he would have been good to go. Oh well ... Kind of a shame that Hasbro never made an actual toy of the cartoon Skyfire/Jetfire.

Man, that's a bummer about the lack of arm armor for the VT-1. Sure it's not in the movie, but it would have been nice to have. It actually looks lacking without it. And I doubt they passed along the savings seeing as how it costs as much as the VE-1. Well, I can paint up some spare armor for it, I guess. As for the VE-1, man, how could Yamato mess this one up?! They had been working on this one for awhile. How could they not consider things like adding another hinge to the radar dish arm and coming up with a better way to attach the dish?!?! Even the Bandai Elint had a better way to do it that didn't sacrifice the regular fighter mode. I don't see anybody trading in their Bandai Elint's anytime soon. What a disappointment!

Are those red lights on the front ends of the arm armor painted or are they clear red plastic pieces like the plastic pieces on the rear landing gear doors? Is it just me, or does it seem like the boosters are sitting up a little high in fighter mode? I thought they were supposed to sit pretty close to the back of the fighter?

Man, that hinge thing on the back of the VE-1 for the dish rod doesn't look all that. It's too plain and makes the VE-1 look too toylike. Looking at the Bandai version on Valkyrie Factory, it looks like the dish assembly attached to the inner side of the boosters. That looks MUCH better allowing the VE-1 to transform into fighter mode without the armor. Looks like that rod on the Yamato version can't be removed from the backpack. That sucks! What a letdown! Anyone know if this is accurate to the lineart? Here's a pic of the Bandai version with the dish assembly attached to the boosters from Valkyrie Factory. ve_1_gerwalk.01

Oh yeah, in Battroid mode, aren't the Valks supposed to have the area behind the head and the areas on either side of the cockpit enclosed? I know I have seen custom Hasegawa transforming models that use a flap system to cover up some of those open areas. I think it would be cool if Yamato tried the same thing. Those flaps under the arms that fold outward are a nice touch, but they could be much imroved.

1)Better hands, no doubt. Either fixed-pose hands would be nice or poseable fingers that can grip the gunpod better. Sheesh! Even the Banpresto's can grip the front of a gunpod better than the 1/48's! 2)Another thing that would be cool is folding intake covers that can fold up to the roof of the intake area instead of those lame stickers. 3)Personally, I could do without the radar dish. I mean it was nice of Yamato to include it, but, seriously, how many of you have your's on display with the nosecone off??? The lack of detail on it and that hokey sticker just make it an eyesore. 4)The air brake is another thing that was a nice extra, but one I could have done without, too. I don't know how an air brake actually gets pulled up, but I would imagine it has some pistons or something like that to release it and hold it in place. If they could have added that, then the air brake would have looked like a nice, working feature instead of just a panel that opens. As it is, it doesn't lock or snap into place in the closed position, so on some of my 1/48's, it doesn't look quite flush. I'm not knocking the 1/48's, because, truly, the more I look at them on display, the more I am impressed by their size, detail, accuracy, and improved poseability making them the best Valks yet.

Man, I remember seeing it there a few years ago! It's still there, huh.

WHOOPS! Forgot to add the pic. NOW THIS IS ARMOR!!!!!

I would sell my soul for 1/48 armor like this! GODLY!!!!!

Well, for me, this pic speaks for itself. Now, if Yamato could make a 1/48 that looks this good, I doubt you would have too many naysayers.