drifand

Are you sure it wasn't a cameo from Sheryl/May'n? O_o'

You know what? I'm hoping Hobby Japan (Dengeki is owned by Bandai) would do a special issue and treat the DX just like another 'imperfect mass-produced kit that got so many things wrong'. Nothing can be done for the hips, but Max Watanabe could probably fix everything else for Alto and Ozma: scratch build a new do-it-all shield, better fists, better necks, find a way to shield the cockpit better. The works.

Jenius, If you carefully compare Yellow's ride to Fuke's, you will notice the diameter of the retaining screws for the locks are larger on Fuke's. That means less travel for the already smaller lock... and thus ZERO contact with swing arm socket. I guess it's something they overlooked at the factory. After all, the toy LOOKS just fine. Who woulda thought 0.05mm could make such a big difference? :-P

Mea culpa. There are indeed ratcheted, or rather, detented joints on the upper thighs and knee-block. They're just so effin' tight I could hear them 'click' when I was playing with the toy.

LOL, Bandai has always screwed up the 'S' variant heads. Personally, I think it's the way the chin sticks out... it hides the neck too well.

I think it's Oshii's ego demanding a visually 'unique' signature on his most precious works. When GITS came out, it was cutting edge for its depiction of virtual environments in the cyberbrain. And then the W. Bros copied the 'green = cyber' look for Matrix and the rest is history. Needless to say, the more artistically inclined Oshii was aghast at the success of such an inferior and populist copycat. When he did Avalon (Beautiful. Yawn), he was adamant in seeking new ways to portray his vision of a virtual world in a live action setting. No cyber-shticks like green-lines and raining numbers, no siree. It's all gone sepia! From there, Innocence carried on his hue-driven repudiation of the Matrix-hijacked visual language. It only makes sense that he would in time revisit his first international hit. After all, he has already done such updates for the first 2 Patlabor films (although only in digital remastering and sound re-recording). I'm definitely going to watch this remake to see how successful he was in retaking his visual signature from Hollywood. At the worst, fans will still have the original already on remastered digital media.

I know the heat is all on the Beta now, but just wanted to chime in on the CM's Bartley ride armor which I received yesterday. As reviewed by Jenius, this particular toy is probably the most frustrating of the whole CM's 1/18 ride armor line-up. VERY, very fiddly: - The arm gauntlets cannot attach securely to the suspension forks or wheel hub. They fall off with the slightest touch. - On the Fuke figure, her legs are basically one big failure; hip joints too loose, ankle extensions cannot lock in place (are there even springs in the 2 circular locks?) - In armor mode, the chest plate halves cannot lock in place; somehow there is not enough tension in the assembly to force the parts onto place. Biggest plus is definitely the figures of Mint (who share one head only), and the optional pistol (never recalled the name) that was part of a mail-away bonus for the Megahouse toys. I am now highly inclined to leave my Dark Bartley in the box for some future R@RE S@LE. No wonder when I was in Tokyo I found so many Dark Bartley boxes left on the shelves. This one is only for diehards. I'll probably leave Fuke in armor mode forever. One more thing: I think the 'improved' metal slide locks are not a good thing at all. Why? Because they don't do the job, i.e. locking the swing arms in place. The reason is that the metal locks seems to have shrunk (vis a vis the original plastic version), and the retaining screws now seem to be a bit too big in diameter. The result is that the metal locks cannot slide fully to either end of their limits. From my observation, when fully pushed in place, the locks don't even TOUCH the corresponding part of the swing arm. Short of finding smaller diameter screws, I think I'll use some of the earlier spare plastic locks from Stick and Ley and just paint them silver (or red). Those never broke on me and they sure worked better. Such beautiful failures :3

Surprisingly, no ratcheting joints... just tightly hinged ones - which is a good thing because it allows you the freedom to manoeuvre each part just so to get a pose right. As for the ankle block, in relatively stable poses, yes, you CAN leave them semi-retracted. In fact that's probably a requirement to achieve stability. What you need to understand is that the entire metal block is attached to a ball-joint higher up inside the leg housing. This arrangement lets the feet angle out for an A-stance (limited by the hip joints lack of freedom). So, when the block is semi-retracted, you will lose some of that sideways poseability of the feet. However, as you play with the toy, you will figure out when you'd prefer to do so. --------- Well, I was just listing out the SOC Walker Galliar (amongst others like the Iron Gear and Gunbuster) on TBDX as examples of Bandai doing things right, especially with regards to transforming details like having proper hinged fists that work with the design. I remain a firm advocate for non-fragile, carefree play toy design, but Bandai dropped the ball on some simple details for the DX. This is avoidable only if you keep the sharp edge of the intakes away from the LERX every time you attempt a 'dynamic' pose. Which makes it a bit of a P.I.T.A. Would a lower hip-joint position have helped? Maybe. Yes the shoulder ball joint is metal, and Bandai have painted the 'stalk' white right up until the ball, which is exposed metal gripped by the enclosing halves of the upper arm assembly. After several transformations, this joint remains 'firm'. If you simply rotate the arm as in normal play, the entire shoulder+'5-hole block' will lift up the L-shaped linkage along one of the available hinges. If you EVER leave a 'kink' in the linkage, bad things might happen. Best to familiarise yourself with this portion during your first explorations. Right now, I'm pleased to have the DX Alto as part of my Macross collection despite its shortcomings. Because the larger probability is: 5 years later, the toy will still be fine. And, I've already started to find ways to pose it in its best light. Chances are, I'll get all 4 DXs if Ozma doesn't turn out too bad - a friend is buying just that one for his collection and I hope to check it out soon. After all, the tampo'd skull emblem screams for it to be displayed in fighter mode anyway! That is something I would want to contend with on the kit.

Was trawling Youtube the other night and came across a NEWLY uploaded clip from the concert: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QggKX277Odo&fmt=18 It's a pretty good recording of the emcee's introduction segueing right into May'n's opening number. The previously available clip of 'Welcome to my fan club's night' was a partial recording. Too bad the uploader doesn't have more...

Since I bought the DX Alto, that one at least is OK in my book. Can't say I'm really enthused over the stumpy Ozma version, though. If only the 1/72 Ozma had the skull tampo'd on it, I'd be on the kits for sure! So: 1. Meh, it's OK. 2. Not keen on Ozma means Michel and Luca aren't must-haves either, especially with the craptastic situation over the armor/super packs. 3. Booty!

Well, I just got my DX Alto this afternoon here in Singapore. As someone who has skipped almost all the recent Yamato releases, I find that this toy strangely pleases me most in fighter mode more so than battroid, which is what draws me usually. Why? For all the reasons already given by others but mostly it comes down to 3 things: 1. Cheap looking plastic for the weapons parts. Makes battroid look uncool, and it irks me that there isn't a smart way to stow the knife and gunpod holder in battroid mode. (Has the Bandai team looked into the SHIELD at all?) 2. Limited poseability because of the hip joints. 3. The 'too tight' shoulder joints that may accidentally over-stress the metal linkages when you pose the arms. Right now, I have to firmly hold the '5-hole' block before attempting to swivel the actual shoulder. I supposed the shoulder ball joint will loosen up in time... Lastly, as a comment on the mecha design: I never realised how exposed the cockpit section was in battroid mode. As seen in the DX, the rear fuselage hardly covers/protects the cockpit section at all... Hmm. For the things I was expecting to be subjectively better than Brand Y – the looser tolerances in the parts fit definitely makes this a toy and not a display model. And for that, at least, I am glad. Parts simply unplugged, snapped-fit without any heart-stopping scares (with the exception of the tight shoulder joints). Overall, my personal call: 6.5/10. Now I'm actually hoping that Bandai will do a really good 1/72 Konig Monster (license hurdles aside)... then I'll jump wholeheartedly into the model kits instead. If I get the DX Ozma, that one will be spending more time in fighter mode to show off the tampo'd skull than anything else, thanks to the 'no-neck' look. :-/

Yeah, Mechanic + Chara sheets together, but I'm also including the special Gallery sheets for the respective series as well. Time will tell...

Yup... could never understand the appeal of the 1/48 VF-1's skinny arms and chicken hands either. :-) Looking forward to the DX Messiah!

Yay! Replacement sheet!

Yeah, well, some of us are tired of expensive toys/models that break unexpectedly... didn't happen in the anime either, except under heavy enemy fire.

Yeah, but the CM's Legioss/Alpha sucks big ones for the liberties taken with its design. It's a compromise whichever combo you choose...

Count me in as a PLANETES fan! I think it's the SF equivalent to Real Robots' Patlabor. I loved it so much I shelled out for the official R1 release from Bandai Entertainment, only to find myself screwed by bad encoding on one of the discs. :-/ The exchange process is really convoluted for overseas customers, so I've waiting for over 6 months now for the local dealer to make good on it. Otherwise, the discs that I managed to view were superb, especially the hilarious cast commentaries. Hachi's seiyuu managed to get the girls to say all kinds of naughty things ;-)

Delays probably due to the economic uncertainties and China factory closures...

Yeah... I committed to the Mugen version even as the yen rate swamped our local currency. AND to think the one I really, really wanted is the green army grunt edition. Now I'm ambivalent as to whether CM's should/would continue with the Gazette and Tulcas as well. Can't imagine spending close to 2K SGD (300+ apiece) to collect the lot.

Cool! I'll definitely take a look...

Just more reason to collect the singles, nyan?

50 is not out of the question. Do check out some of the earlier replies on this thread. If they are REALLY thorough with the documentation of toys, especially from the TT/80s era, we may well need 2 binders just for the 'special sheets'. And then there's the Frontier Movie in 09... who knows what new stuff they could squeeze in there?

Mmm, unless you're telling me that you stick the rings on BOTH sides of the pages? No, right? :-) I've already split my collection into 3 binders... Only dilemma is whether to arrange by chronological order (M0 just before Frontier), or timeline (M0 first... yuck).

From our local CM's importer, the Dark Shinobu is indeed a limited release, so it's only 'normal' for sellers to try bundling them to make a bigger buck. I'm waiting patiently for my bundle to arrive.

Mmmmmmm mmmm... First listen: not as thrilling as the first 2 OSTs, probably because there isn't anything really new here. The tracks I ws most anticipating didn't turn out that fantastic either: DC 50/50 was too LITE; Maaya's Aimo was too spacy; even the Special Serving Medley was a case of too much of a good thing... The first 'Kira' break was too sudden, and after 10 minutes+ I thought it would never end! Still... enjoyed the all too-short DC-in-the-park... (missed Ranka's shocked recognition), and Infinity #7 was a worthy duet addition. Also loved the shout-outs before Iteza and Seikan Hikou. I think I'm more anxious to hear May'n's solo LION... 2009 is too far away!