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Posts posted by Cyclone Trooper
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Got my hinges in the mail today! I swapped the shoulders on my Hikaru VF-1J just in case the inevitable happens. Thanks Graham!
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I have only a modest collection...nothing nowhere near what some on MW have amassed over the years.
1 WAVE 1/2000 SDF-1
1 Max Q-Rau (with CM Max pilot figure)
1 VF-1J with GBP-1S Armor
1 VF-1J Mass Production
1 VE-1 Elintseeker
1 Destroid Tomahawk (Olive Drab)
1 Destroid Defender
1 CM Gutto Kuru Collection DYRL Lynn Minmay figure (Ai Oboete Imasuka Costume)
1 Bandai VF-100s VF-25 Alto
1 Bandai VF-100s VF-25 Ozma Custom
*all Yamato Valkyries are Version 2.0
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I bought the Alto and Ozma VF-25s from HLJ since they were marked down to practically nothing. I was expecting them to be parts-forming, but not to the point of feeling like I'm reassembling a model kit each time I want to put them into a different mode! I'm impressed as hell over the overall design, since these are my first MF toys, but a tad put off by the "garage kit" feel of the things...
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Thanks for the offers, guys. But someone already sold one to me and it's on its way from Hawaii. However...if you happen to have a Milia in flightsuit, I may look into getting a Milia Q-Rau! lol
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A few souls here on MW have managed to get their hands on the CM figures of Max and Milia in their DYRL Meltran flightsuits. I'm not one of those lucky few, unfortunately for me. I own a single blue Q-Rau and would love to actually have someone to pilot the damned thing. If anyone would be willing to sell me one or point the way to one someplace, it would be greatly appreciated.
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I'm an admitted DYRL "purist" so I prefer all of my Valkyries to be piloted by DYRL-style pilots. I don't have a massive collection, so I'm not asking for a whole squadron's worth of pilots. I just need 3 DYRL pilots with any helmet color...Hikaru red, Roy yellow, Max blue, or Hayao green...it doesn't matter. I can trade a brand new SDFM style Hikaru and SDFM style Cannon Fodder pilot from my CF-1J. Otherwise, I'm willing to pay. Let me know if anyone has 3 pilots they can spare...
Thanks!
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Although the revys look cool, they're WAY exaggerated. Where do those zentradi logos come from that are on the revys? I never saw them in either SDFM or dyrl.
The line art...
If you look at all the sketches and tech drawings of the Zentran/Meltran mecha from official sources, they have insignias, squad designations and even unit numbers all over them (all in Zentran, of course). Back when animation was actually still hand-drawn, as opposed to the CGI cel-shading of mecha done nowadays, it was most likely too time consuming and difficult to animate logos on each and every Regult and Glaug in every single scene. It was just easier and more cost effective to refrain from adding them to footage.
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Sent mine too. Just in case I ever need them...
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Among all the bad news, I have a somewhat strange bit of good news! I've checked and rechecked it to make sure I'm not imagining things...even disassembled my Mass Production 1J to compare shoulders.
I got my VF-1J GBP set today from HLJ and once I took it out of the box, I immediately sat down at my workbench to do the suggested preemptive "surgery" on the VF-1J's shoulders. I started by removing the Valk's "back" assembly and then loosening the screws on the shoulder mounts. While doing this, I examined the offending rods on the shoulders and guess what I found...
Perfectly intact shoulder hinges with no stress fractures!
I looked closer at the retaining rods to see if they have the dreaded knurling that has been responsible for so many broken arms on first-run V2 Valkyries. This VF-1J DOESN'T seem to have knurled rods. I've sat here for 30 minutes now constantly bending the shoulders and transforming the Valkyrie back and forth, just to bench test whether or not I may start to see any stressing on the plastic...and I'm (thus far) happy to report that there has been none whatsoever. And just to clarify, I haven't been treating the Valkyrie like it's made of egg shells. I've been transforming it just like I transform my Elintseeker and Mass Production 1J.
Did I luck up and get a diamond in the rough with this GBP set or did Yamato make running production changes? I have pics below to verify the intact shoulders...
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Funny how quickly things get answered when a billing processor gets involved. Paypal apparently lit a fire under someone's ass at Overdrive today because this is the email I received from Overdrive this evening:
Order Information - Order #
Qty. Products Total
1 ea. Macross - 1/60 VF-1J Hilkaru Ver with Armored Parts Set $162.99
$162.99Sub-Total:
$47.00 Japanese Postal Service (1 x 2.5kg) (EMS):
$209.99 Total:
Status History & Comments
Date Order Status Comments
01/27/2010 Paid PayPal status: Completed @ 11:47:55 Jan 27, 2010 PST
Trans ID:
Amount: 209.99 USD
02/27/2010 Pending PayPal status: Reversed @ 08:36:11 Feb 26, 2010 PST
Parent Trans ID:
Trans ID:
Amount: -202.55 USD
Delivery Address:
(Name and Address withheld)
Maryland
United States
Shipping Method
Japanese Postal Service (1 x 2.5kg) (EMS)
Billing Address
(Address withheld)
Maryland
United States
Payment Method
PayPal
I didn't get the entire amount refunded, but at this point, I'm just glad Paypal reversed the amount to me. But I find it a bit disappointing that all previous emails from me went completely ignored, as well as my order never being shipped, but Paypal was able to get ahold of someone at Overdrive with no problem whatsoever. On the other hand, I'm amazed at how fast Paypal resolved the issue. I've been burned by Overdrive to the point where I'll never do business with them again. I could have let it go and chalked this up to a simple customer service snafu, had the item been something fairly cheap. But this was an item over $200 (including shipping). To totally allow an order for that amount to fall through the cracks and then not respond to emails pertaining to it is ridiculous.
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I just filed a Paypal dispute against Overdrive for the amount I paid for the Hikaru GBP armor. My wife (reluctantly) ordered another GBP set from HLJ yesterday and we already received a shipping notice within 8 hours of the payment being processed...complete with EMS tracking number. I don't know what's happened at Overdrive, but it's obvious that someone's asleep at the switch. If Paypal can't get Overdrive to respond to the dispute, I then have the option of escalating it to a claim, at which point Paypal will determine whether or not I'm worthy of getting a refund on a $209 item that was never delivered. Considering the luck I'm currently having with this particular online store, Paypal will probably rule in favor of Overdrive because it's an international transaction, thus not subject to the usual dispute resolution process and I'll have lost my money altogether. The consolation here is that HLJ DID come through where Overdrive has completely dropped the ball...
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Still no change in my order status from Overdrive. Rechecking my order, the date that it was ordered was January 27th (it was supposed to be a Feb. 7th b-day present from the wife), so more time has passed than I thought. I thought that only about two weeks had passed (hence why I also edited the timing of my original post as well). The money transfer went through with no problem, according to my Paypal account...so the money went SOMEWHERE at Overdrive's offices. But apparently it died somewhere along the way. I've emailed Overdrive about my order and about replacement arms as well. Neither of the emails have been returned yet. Not sure where to go from here. If I can't get ahold of anyone at Overdrive to put a trace on my order, I may just have to eat the $200 I sent to them and chalk this up to "Buyer Beware."
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Ordered a 1/60 Hikaru Valkyrie with GBP armor almost a month ago from Overdrive and thus far, I haven't even had the order processed yet. I paid via Paypal and the payment went through, but none of that information reflects on my Overdrive account. In a previous thread, I showered Overdrive with accolades for processing a Destroid order in what seemed like record time...but like a lot of other people have noted, it almost seems like its under new management or has changed its business model completely. Maybe it doesn't give equal priority to international orders as it does to local ones anymore. What is the NEW average wait times for Overdrive to get orders shipped? Anyone know?
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Haven't replied to anything in a while, so this is as good a place as any...
I used some of my tax return money and bought the GBP/VF-1J combo from Overdrive today. I honestly don't have an issue not using the gimpy-shouldered Hikaru 1J with the armor. I plan on using it on the Mass Production 1J instead. It may surprise some people that the parts of the armor that I'm most interested in has nothing to do with missiles, opening panels or replacable hands. It's the side covers and the neck cover that I'm looking forward to the most. Those parts just make the VF-1 look "beefier" (not to mention more anime-accurate) in Battroid mode. But I also have never owned a GBP armor system, so I'm sure I'll appreciate it more than I already do once I have it in hand...
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I dunno...
I'm not familiar with the Tornado design (I'm assuming it's from the movie), but it looks like its designed more for a Gundam than a Valkyrie...with the big sweeping external central fuel tank and the rotating dual cannon. But it'll most likely sell no matter what.
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The area around the Battroid's neck looks like it has a dark gray plug-in armor piece. Was that also something that was featured on the V1 GPS armor?
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Then you need to get your hands on a Version 2 Yamato Valkyrie. It's about as "perfect transformation" for a VF-1 that you can get in 1/60 scale. The only parts-forming it has is the removable nosecone/cockpit...but that's 100% lineart accurate. It acts as an escape pod of sorts, so it's supposed to be removable. And if THAT isn't perfect enough for ya...then go for one of the 1/48 scale Valkyries...
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Yeah, bit dissapointed, only one head (although the 1S is the best choice imo anyways),
but hey seriously have to do the same with a pack of non-painted heads!
But we all know Yamato's marketing strategy will be to release each one as a separate Valkyrie. We'll see a 1J, a 1A, a DYRL 1A, a VT and a VE, all in pristine snow white...plus FAST Pack varients of all of them. But the coveted "pack of heads" thing would mean that they couldn't reuse the molds as much.
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I'm late to the Destroid party, but Overdrive came through and I just opened up my Olive green Defender. I've got nothing but praise for it. I like my mecha blocky and industrial looking and the Destroids have always filled that niche. Chunky, yet flexible with a crapload of stickers that I'll probably never have time for-simply awesome. It's THE best Destroid toy I've owned, and it just sucks that Yamato won't go on with the Spartan.
I think--at first, at any rate--a lot of people suspected that the Destroids were going to be a lot like the Q-Rau...a cheap block of plastic with relatively little difference from a model kit version. But the sheer level of engineering that went into these things is unreal. The legs and feet are fully designed for all-terrain, not to mention the hips that can lock and unlock, depending on how you're posing it.
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So in essence, is this basically Macross F given the DYRL treatment?
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If anything - this is a QC victory - they concluded it wouldn't work...yet. Back to the drawing board.
Pete
You just summed up in two sentences what I spent two entire paragraphs trying to say!
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I didn't start collecting yamatos to settle for second best and I don't entirely accept the excuse we've been offered either.
Feels like they've given up too easily on this one. Obviously not ALL the parts are too big to be injection moulded, and surely there are work-arounds for the ones that are.
It's not like all the large parts would really be that detailed, or that they must be one solid piece.
But the reason given is what it is. And no amount of boycotting Yamato is going to change the fact that they put an assload of effort into this project only to end up having it SORT OF turn into vaporware. This isn't the first time something like this has happened, and probably won't be the last (the 1/60 Monster most likely suffered the same kind of materials issues), so if an SDF-1 under 5-feet tall isn't your cup of saki, then you aren't required to purchase one. There are many of us who are glad to hear that Yamato hasn't just thrown in the towel and abandoned furthering the SDF-1 project altogether. If it's made into a 1/3000 scale similar to the old Tat/Matchbox version(s), I certainly wouldn't mind, nor would the vast majority of MWers. If the SDF-1 is just too damned big, bulky and heavy to realistically mass-produce at the 1/2000 scale, then so be it. Yamato at least tried. But a number of factors were against the designers from the get-go...and this can simply be tossed up to being a learning experience for the company: Don't try to bite off more than you can chew in the current economy. And like any company would do, it's attempting to recoup what it invested into this project by offering this SDF-1 up as a super-exclusive "built-to-order" item to hardcore collectors instead of just scrapping it and eating its losses.
Graham has hinted that a more affordable SDF-1 is somewhere in Yamato's pipeline for us. I completely understand that R&D costs, tooling up costs, materials, public and retailer interest and other factors ultimately determine the overall price of an item, but even some of the more well-to-do MW members who normally have no problem spending $500 to $600 at a time for Macross items were finding the $2300 price point a tad hard to swallow. To put it into perspective, that's the equivalent to about 6 months' worth of car payment for some people...all for a 2 1/2 ft plastic model kit. I never bought into the whole "Yamato is an evil corporate entity who's only goal is pure unadulterated greed" theme that sprung up after the shock of the price wore off. But at the same time, I also couldn't responsibly justify myself spending that kind of cash on something that--iconic as it is--wasn't at all practical, even to an avid collector. So what if affordable = smaller? Graham outright said that Yamato doesn't have the facilities nor the equipment available to it to produce some people's idea of an "Ultimate SDF-1" using the same resins that automakers use. That's just a fact that we're all going to have to accept and get used to. Smaller means that Yamato will be able to provide us with the same level of detail and gimmicks we've gotten spoiled on with its V2 Valkyries and Destroids while using the materials it readily has available instead of having to experiment with resins and plastics that its factories aren't set up to use.
Just my 2-cents...
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RC-4E Rabbit
in Toys
Which is what confuses things. So my corrections above aren't so much the implication of the subject, but the placement of the subject in an English sentence.Nevertheless, Macross Chronicles states that there are a variety of craft like what is seen in the movie. Therefore, it's entirely probable that only a few, some or all of like vehicles contain a transformation system.
Then I wasn't too incredibly off in my mediocre translation abilities? Cool! But I suppose my main interest in this thread isn't necessarily whether or not the thing transforms, but whether or not the MW community would be interested in adding the Rabbit to their collections or not. In hindsight, I probably should have started a poll.
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RC-4E Rabbit
in Toys
In light of the glut of DYRL mecha Yamato has cranked out over the years, and the fact that it's produced lesser items such as the Ghosts, a Rabbit isn't necessarily a far-fetched idea. There is also line art featured on page 85 in the DYRL This Is Animation book that shows a Rabbit next to a Super Ostrich and both of them are in GERWALK mode. The feet of the Rabbit extend downward with a definite knee joint and it's outfitted with the same FAST Pack system as the Super-O. I have no idea if this was supposed to be canon or if this was just a joke sketch that was included in the book, but the prospect of Yamato producing a transformable SDF shuttle with a tiny Misa pilot could be a possible hit. If nothing else, it'd fill a niche in much the same way that the Destroids have. Anyone else interested in something like this?
Zentraedi Clone Series
in Movies and TV Series
Posted · Edited by Cyclone Trooper
Exedol...or Exedore for the unenlightened...has always fascinated me ever since I first saw him back in the mid 80s. Here was this malformed little midget (by Zentraedi standards) who was reputed to be quite a bit older than even Britai and second only to Bodolza himself. Then DYRL/Macross 7 redesigned him to be possibly the most alien of all Zentraedi, having tentacle-like appendages instead of arms and an oversized pulsating cranium instead of hair. Well...if you don't include Bodolza's head-in-a-jar redesign, he's the most alien...
Since Kawamori prefers the overall DYRL designs, they've since popped up in various Macross series. Similar Britai-type Zentrans appears in both DYRL and Macross F...both sporting the same "techno-eyepatch" as Britai. The green-skinned, hairless Zentraedi seem to be relegated to upper-echelon command and first officer roles. I've always attributed this to them being the "first" Zentraedi created by the Protoculture, and therefore much, much older than the average rank-and-file soldiers...and also attributes to their otherworldly, almost "prototype" appearance. The average trooper and junior officer had a decidedly more human appearance in contrast. The Meltrandi were also subject to this strange kind of heirarchy, as evidenced by Lap Lamiz's DYRL-style floating head makeover...although there doesn't seem to be as many different types of Meltran as there seems to be of Zentraedi. Aside from Lap Lamiz, all of the officers and soldiers appear to be from the same basic "normal female" genetic template.
If most modern Macross series are running with the DYRL character designs, Bodolza and Lap Lamiz primarily exist as living, breathing worldships, while Britai/Exedol types are always paired together in an almost symbiotic way to command large fleets, while the more human-looking troops serve as shock troopers. At least this is how I've always viewed it. I guess this turned into more of an observational posting instead of questions on the matter...but I couldn't change the title after posting it. What are others' thoughts on this?