cschell

I'm not a CD/LP collector, so I'm not sure if this is rare or not, but I thought I'd pass on this link to an auction for Macross "Jam Trip" over at Mandarake.

http://ekizo.mandarake.co.jp/auc_e/itemInfo.do?itemId=03002853490100001

Seeing this topic pop up again, I'll post my only Macross TV cel. It's seen better days but I like it.

Local stores around me are pretty bare too. Nearest Target has had the same figures for months, 1 Scarlet, 1 CC, and a few comic packs. TRU has taken the space for GI Joe and put other toys there. The few remaining Joes they have (TRU exlusives, old comic packs, 1 peg for figures) aren't even located adjacent to each other anymore.

I did finally find the latest comic packs, the wave with Firefly, not sure of the number these days. It was at the walmart nearby, which was shocking as it's the most poorly stocked walmart I've ever seen. Apparently being the only one on the east side of town they can't be bothered to stock it. (And I'm not just talking toys, it's common to see half empty shelves everywhere.)

Looking at the hisstank sightings forums, Phoenix seems to have the latest waves and vehicles all over the place, but they apparently haven't made it down to Tucson. Typical.

I'm glad I ordered my VAMP through BBTS, received it today. It's the one vehicle I really wanted. They made some changes compared to the classic one, but I like it. I do think it was really stupid of Hasbro to give Clutch arms that won't bend 90 degrees at the elbow. Makes it hard to get him to hold the steering wheel. What were they thinking? It's the first figure I've felt the need to trim down an arm so that it can bend properly. At least they included weapons and a figure stand for Clutch, unlike the Target exclusives. And they kindly even listed the name as just Clutch on the base, not "Double Clutch" as they're calling him these days.

I finally received my Doc earlier this week. Only had to wait 11 weeks from the time i sent the order form in until the time Hasbro finally got it to me. I had actually given up on ever receiving it.

I wonder what the typical turn around time is for these things.

Target report: WTF. Same as last week, which is the same as the week before that. 6x Scarlett comic packs, not a single thing else. Yeesh.

Sounds like the Targets around here, although they've been that way for a couple of months. Only difference is that some of them also have a Ripper or two.

At least they did get the exclusive vehicles in at one point to break up the monotony.

VAMP will retail for $14.99, you can see it on HTS.com:

http://www.hasbrotoyshop.com/ProductsByBra...=21688&PG=1

Thanks for that. Looks like BBTS's markup isn't too bad so I'll go ahead and preorder. I have to get the VAMP as it was my first GIJoe toy and always was one of my favorites, and the Targets/Walmarts near me have been really bad about getting new stuff. It's still all Ripper/Hooded Cobra Commander around here.

I've never even heard of the Mamba. I always liked the Dragonfly as a kid though. (I think that was the name, it's been a while though.) When I was still playing with Joes back then the only helicopters were the Dragonfly and the Fang.

I've still got my original Skystriker through. It's the only Joe vehicle I kept.

Shin, do you happen to know what the price is supposed to be on the upcoming vehicles (VAMP in particular)?

nm

Here's the only cel I have from roughly the same age as Macross. Most of my cels are from newer series. Perhaps someday I'll find one of Voltron to go with it. (Came close once on a really nice one, but got there just a little too late.)

Picked up the target vehicles yesterday. They must have just put them out as the display was full. Mostly wanted the Hiss but decided to grab the others given they hardly cost more than a figure by itself. If I end up not liking them I guess I can always sell off the vehicles.

The boxes/windows of the ones at my Target looked to be in pretty good shape overall, so I guess there is hope for the box concerned collectors.

Thanks for pointing out that they're up front by the registers. They were up by the second row back of registers in a rather obscure location. If I hadn't known to look by the registers I never would have found them.

If anyone is interested Mandarake has a Milia TV filght suit close up currently on offer in their auction section.

http://ekizo.mandarake.co.jp/auc_e/itemInf...001537060100002

Honestly, a nice new 32 or 36in SDTV would be nice to have in the living room. Due to the extreme viewing angles and giant windows, no HDTV AFAIK would look good. Plus the fact that it will only ever see SD cable and VCR, with occasional DVD. I don't think I've seen a SDTV bigger than 24in for sale for over a year.

Actually when it comes to windows some of the flat panel LCDs out there have excellent anti-glare screens (or at least they used to, current trend seems to be moving to glossy screens for a little higher contrast ratio.) When I replaced my CRT a few years ago with an LCD with the anti-glare screen in a room with a big window just to the side of the TV it was so much easier to watch than the CRT due to the reduced glare. Also helps a lot at reducing the glare from floor/table lamps.

Viewing angles are pretty good these days as well. Not the 178 degrees they all claim, but fine for most practical viewing angles.

Of course if you're never going to use HD, then it's pretty pointless to get an HDTV. Extra cost, small 4:3 pillar boxed area relative to screen size, and scaling required. Have you considered thrift stores or garage sales?

Wave 5 has the fix, as well as comic packs from wave 1 that are carrying over into wave 2. Everything from this point on will more than likely have the fix.

So which comic packs would those be? The one I picked up with Scarlet and Hawk still has the original (worst case) for both Scarlet and Hawk. And Hawk uses the same body as Stalker.

Was at target today, and they had a lot of single carded figures and comic packs. Finally picked up a Zartan.

The best thing I noticed though was that they had some Stalkers with a truly fixed crotch. Not the minor mod like on Beach Head that IMHO doesn't make that much of a difference, but rather one that looks like the old style figures with a really thin crotch area. The figure can actually bring it's legs to about 85 degrees from vertical while keeping both legs parallel. Finally one that should be able to sit properly in a vehicle.

Hopefully they'll fix the other figures like this going forward.

the Microman versions aren't any better either.

I have to say in my experience the Microman versions are definitely better, and much cheaper as a bonus. (But they are still too floppy.)

My Shounen Ace Asuka is one of the worst figures I own. It falls apart if you look at it funny. Trying to pose it is an act of frustration as you move one part into place and a different part just falls off. Mine also has the loose heels so I had to glue them into place to get it to stand. And what's up with the heels anyway? I don't recall 8" stilettos in the cartoon. (I'm not really the biggest fan of the sculpt on this figure, always seemed a little too sharp / stylized for me, but that's of course personal preference.)

I think Kaiyodo did a really nice job on the sculpts of the gashapon sets they released long long ago, so I have high hopes that the revy figures turn out really well. Wouldn't it be great to have a good looking figure that you can move without it falling to pieces? Kinda like the GIJoe toys or the Microman 99 line.

let us know what you think of Starscream. I'll be picking mine up this weekend from someone who got one for me. I can't wait to give it an alcohol sponge-bath.

You're probably much better at this stuff than I am (pretty anyone would be) but be warned that at least on mine while the silver paint was one quite thick and required some effort to remove, the blue paint on the feet was incredibly thin. Just the slightest touch of alcohol completely removed the paint from a spot.

If you can look at those pictures and not tell that its SS, even with out the colors, then you need your eyes checked.

Without the colors how does one distinguish SS, Thundercracker and Skywarp?

A "classic" that I can't stand is Apocalypse Now. I remember this one especially because my cousin always ranted about how terrible it was, despite the fact that it was generally well regarded.

So I finally watch it, and in the beginning it seems pretty good and I'm wondering what my cousin's problem was with it. Then it gets to the part with Brando, and the whole movie dies a horrible death. How exactly was this guy supposed to be a great actor?

Received my shipment today. Placed the order on the 7th. My "free gift" was a Generator Gawl Vol 1.

Everything I ordered is present. It's all in boxes / DVD cases. And yes they punched through or slashed the bar codes. (Which I don't care about at all.)

I had no problems the last time I placed an order on a similar sale from them either.

Chad

Now about the controllers.  PS3 supports up to 7 of those via bluetooth.  Xbox 360 only supports 4 via old fashioned 2.4GHZ technology.  With a lot of home electronics using the 2.4GHZ, you are just asking for trouble.

Bluetooth is 2.4 GHz technology. It's just a protocol definition for products to follow so that they can interoperate with one another, but it shares the 2.4 GHz ISM band with many of the other home (and other) electronics.

Just because Microsoft isn't using Bluetooth doesn't mean they will have problems. Their controllers are probably using some form of spread spectrum transmission protocol that will allow them to operate just fine in the typical home use 2.4 GHz environment.

Chad

Looking at the snake eyes picture I can see why they put them in the cloth pants. Those legs look terrible.

I only ever liked the first few years of the 3 3/4" figures, the ones where the vehicles and weapons were mostly based off real stuff.

Yo.

Tucson MW'ers unite.

All 3 of us lol.

At least that makes planning any MW Tucson get togethers a rather simple matter.

But to bring things back on topic, I have a question about Hasbro vs. Takara Gen 1 reissues.

I have two Hasbro reissues, and they're both pretty poor quality. Silverstreak whose mold has lost a lot of the detail of my original, and Skywarp who has one wing that is so poorly made it doesn't even want to stay in the socket.

Are the Takara versions any better? (Somehow I'm guessing they aren't.)

Chad

Nice to see another Tucson person.

Thanks for the welcome.

I'm a southern California transplant. Not a frequent poster (obviously) but I did make it to two of the MWCons.

Chad

Since I know there are some Tucson folks on here, I thought I would let you know that the Toys R Us at Broadway and Craycroft has a few Grimlock and one Battle Ravage if you're still looking for either one.

Here's my entry.