F-ZeroOne

You're welcome!

Almost certainly Osamu Tezukas Space Firebird 2772.

Just a thought, but have you tried suggesting to him that he might like a Tuxedo Mask costume?

Sorry to be picky, but I think you mean "WW I" aircraft. AFAIK, Germany never used Fokker built aircraft during WW II, though the Dutch did.

Actually, IIRC, F-117s on, um, "not active" duty are fitted with a small radar reflective fitting which lets air traffic control know where they are. I was astonished to read that there are US collectors with MiG-21s in their garages ( thats a Mach-2 capable interceptor ) and theres even a rumour that a couple of Su-27s have made it into private hands. In the UK, the Civil Aviation Authority has generally taken a rather dim view of what could be described as civilians zooming across this scepter'd isle in Mach 1+ capable aircraft, which has stymied attempts to get Avro Vulcan bombers and English Electric Lightnings back in the air, though such pleading does continue.

Wow, thanks for that - I love Max & Millia and was looking for a new wallpaper. Nice art!

Thats okay, I was just teasing. Its a nice pose...!

The opening concert of the first OAV. Sing, ya monkeys!: "Konya wa Hurricane!" I first saw Bubblegum Crisis just after getting into anime, and it was the first subtitled anime I ever saw. It completely blew me away. A lot of UK anime fans of the same era have strong feelings for this series, it was probably the first series in the UK that was treated like releases now are expected to be, and bear in mind that it cost £25 per single tape in those days...! ( and yes, I was one of those who shelled out for the whole series, though the price did come down later, and I also later bought the DVD version, plus the first soundtrack and a sceensaver! ). BTW, I always liked Revenge Road, too.

So tell me, is the Bondage Edition 1/60 VF-1J the next top secret Yamato release, or do you treat all your toys that way...?!

All right, the time limit will be 12 hours. Thanks! And that Captain Tylor question - I should know that, but I can't even remember what the guy looked like - why couldn't you have picked an easy lone like what the navigators real job is...?!

I have a small problem with that actually; I live on the other side of the Atlantic and theres about 8 or 9 hours time difference. For example, I knew the answer to the Bubblegum Crisis "Replicants" question, but by the time I got to my PC and was able to answer it already had been several times over. Also, 2 hours seems a bit tight; surely not every MW'er sits in front of their PC all day?!

Zeta, you're of course entitled to your opinion, and similiar sentiments have been raised in the various retrospective looks at Concorde over the past couple of weeks in the UK, though I do feel that the same thing could have been - or rather, has been - said about the Moon landings, and I also can't help wondering what would have happened, or if people would feel the same way. if the planned US SST had got into service...

Concorde, the worlds only regularly scheduled supersonic passenger airliner, makes its last commercial flight today. I can think of no finer tribute to what was arguably the most famous jet in the skies for the past couple of decades than Terry Pratchetts description in his book, Wings: "...a bit of shaped sky". So long, Concorde. It will be far too long before we see your like again...

Do I get a bonus point for pointing out that Sylias Gullwing is a replica, genuine 300SLs being rather thin on the ground even now...? BTW, you might want to re-think the multiple-choice format...

I don't know what the validity of these claims are - though one British arms manufacturer was pleased with itself when its product picked up the B2 at an airshow a couple years back ( the USAF rightly replied that an airshow did not exactly count as operational conditions ) - but is should be borne in mind that not only is the F-117 now 25 year old technology, "stealth" is not the same as "completely invisible". I remember reading in New Scientist that a number of new technologies might make it easier to detect stealth aircraft in future, including one I think which relies on picking up refelected electromagnetic signals off of buildings or something... While speaking of favourite aircraft, theres one warbird I feel deserves a mention, largely because it never does get mentioned in lists like this - the Hawker Hurricane. During the Battle of Britain, there were over twice as many Hurricanes as Spitfires, they made 2/3rds of the kills during that period, pioneered the large-gunned "tank-buster" aircraft concept in the desert, fought in just about every theatre of the war - including Russia - were used for many experimental purposes, defended convoys out in the Atlantic before the concept of escort carriers was devised... ...and yet every German bomber would cry "Achtung! Spitfire!" as they were approached by Hurricanes...

The Supermarine Spitfire, preferably Mk. IX. Very rarely does an aircraft get such an incredible combination of history, design excellence and sheer good looks all together. And she still makes people stop in the street and look... Second choice... hmm... theres a lot I could choose, but to actually travel in, I'd go for a hot air balloon. I don't really think theres any other kind of flying experience quite like it...

Ehhhmmm... Have you ever looked up "Smeg?" It's definitely not made up... and it's definitely not a good word. <_< And those are problems? Vostok 7 I'm afraid I haven't enquired into the origins of "S**g*, I always assumed it was made up because I haven't heard it anywhere else. I'm a bit afraid to investigate now...! Its a problem having an incredibly sexy computer voice on a space ship because they usually always seem to have pumped up ultra-male only crews who have probably forgotten what a woman looks like. It must be like slow torture for them! ( husky PC Voice ) "Self destruct system activated. You have 60 seconds to abandon ship or the last remainng humans will be wiped out forever." ( male voice ) "So, er, are you free tonight?" ( BOOM! ) Edit: something didn't come out right first time...

Thanks! The one about computer avatars was inspired by recently playing Halo. Will try and think of some more, but brain hurts right now...

Sorry, Graham, but there is in fact a Gekiganger III movie version, of a kind. Exactly what its status is, I'm not sure ( I think a standalone OAV, or possibly an extra with a Japanese release of Nadesico ). Its short, about 30 minutes. I saw it at an anime convention in England a few years ago. It consists of mainly clip footage from the Nadesico TV series with some new animation; the in-joke is that its the Nadesico crew watching a showing of the Gekiganger movie with clip footage and new animation... er... my head hurts...! Edit: added "of a kind" comment, as in fairness it is arguable whether the GIII movie stands on its won as a GIII anime...

Is that a Nozomi ( Japanese bullet train ) Transformer, and if so, whats it called?

Aliens want our women! ( Arthur C. Clarke once argued that various visiting alien monsters should be allowed to shamble off with their beloved on the grounds of scienitific invetsigation - what, exactly, does a five armed bug eyed Bling want with a member of a different species who doesn't even have an attractive Z*^Tzkk, anyway? ) Swords - energy or otherwise - beat guns. Always. All non-Japanese giant robot movies suck to one degree or another. There is only ever "one" or a "few" good guy ship, and an uncountable number of bad guy ships. The good guy ship always wins ( just where were the other two thousand-odd TIE fighters during that trench run, anyway? ) DNA can be used to explain anything. People don't swear in space, of if they do, only in made up words like "Drokk!" and "Smeg!". The future will be dark. And raining. The future will be bright white, and have a dome over it to keep out the rain. Ancient knowledge & technology always beats modern knowledge & technology, no matter how advanced. The scientist who knows everything about the artifact will be female, and very very hot. All bases in far flung reaches of the Universe, and military spaceships on lonely patrol duty on the galactic rim will be equipped with incredibly sexy computer voices and/or nude female hologram computer avatars. Alien fauna is always lethal. In the future, spacesuits will fit more snugly than your skin.

How did I ever forget Reason? Ultima Ratio Regum!

An interest in guns is not exactly encouraged in the UK, and although I've got no interest in owning or firing one, I do have an interest in military history, and its kind of hard to avoid the subject in that... Favourite real life weapons: Broom-handle Mauser. I just love the way this thing looks; possibly the most stylish classic pistol - handgun doesn't seem the right term, somehow - made. PIAT: Projector, Infantry, Anti-Tank. Quite possibly, the first and last spring-operated anti-tank weapon. Imagine being the Panzer commander who had to suffer the embarrassment of being knocked out by a spring-fired projectile... ( okay, it was a little bit more complicated than that, but while other countries were relying on rocket propelled anti-tank weapons, the British Army went back to the toybox and came up with a spring that required 200lbs of force to cock properly... ) Sci-fi: The Lazy Gun. From the Iain M. Banks book Against A Dark Background. Difficult to describe out of context, but essentially, you never know what will happen when you pull the trigger. It might vapourize your opponent, nuke a city, bash someone in the head with a frying pan, or drop a safe on them... Edit: forgot to mention: its possible to argue that a humble PIAT, fired by the right man at the right time, may have saved, or at least considerably, eased, the British invasion beaches at D-Day...

Not sure about "Godakin", but as for the rest: "Chogokin" (often shortened to "gokin") refers to toys with a high percentage of die-cast metal content, much beloved by collectors of vintage Japanese toys, who like hernias when they pick up their priizes. I believe the term originated with the grand-daddy of all piloted mecha anime, Mazinger Z, where it refers to a super strong metal alloy, and was later picked up as a marketing/collective term for high-metal percentage toys. "Popy" was a very famous toy firm from the 70s that I believe was later "folded" back into Bandai. Known for some extremely fine toys. VOTOMs - famous 80s anime series known for its realistic blocky mecha designs amd grim portrayal of future warfare. Very popular with modellers who like a real military feel. Alen Yens Toybox DX site should be able to help you with these and many other terms: http://www.toyboxdx.com/

Yes. Really small text can look very slightly blurred, but believe me they're worth it, they are much superior to the Yamato stickers. The only downside is that they're not pre-cut, so a steady hand and several spare hours fiddling with scissors and a really sharp knife are required.