Cyclone Trooper

I just discovered a feature that isn't really covered in the instruction manual! A few people have exclaimed that they don't like how low the main sensor radome sits on the Elintseeker. While transforming it into Battroid mode today, I stumbled upon the radome's telescoping feature. This may be something that other Elint owners have already discovered (or it may very well be mentioned in Japanese in the owner's manual, and I simply didn't translate it), but small details like this just make the newer V2 Valkyries that much cooler. Yamato went to great pains to get all these small details just perfect. The telescoping feature allows the radome to sit properly while in Battroid mode without it sitting directly on top of the FAST Pack boosters.

For $2300 plus over $100 shipping, Mari Iijima herself better show up at my doorstep and hand-deliver the damned thing dressed in her pink and white DYRL costume, and perform live!

A not-so-defenseless Elintseeker...

I like how the lower sensor array folds up sideways on the undercarriage, but it has a nearly nonexistent clearance sort of like the GU-11 has on a standard fighter with FAST Packs.

Got my VE-1 today. This is possibly the most beautiful Valkyrie I've yet seen from Yamato. I have the old V1 Elintseeker from back in 2004...and this V2 is a complete departure from Yamato's first attempt. The tampo-stamping on the new Elintseeker is impressive, just about as prolific as the VF-1J Mass Production's tampoed details. The forearms of the Elintseeker are slightly different from the standard fighter model, which is a nice touch. The decals that are included allow you to customize your Elintseeker to a degree. You don't necessarily need the "eyeball" decal on the FAST Packs. You also have the option of using the standard red/white fighting kite Macross symbol or a low-viz gray version of it instead.

Like some other people have already mentioned, the copilot is a tight fit, and requires a little bit of coaxing to get him into the cockpit, but the pilot fits just fine. Most of the photos in this thread show the yellow on the front of the sensor rectenna and the boosters to be a really bright banana yellow, but in person, the color is somewhat muted. I like the added color accents, personally.

Damn you all! Your galleries of Elint goodness made me break down and order one from Overdrive. I had to promise to REALLY outdo myself on my wife's Christmas gifts this year in exchange for her letting me get this. lol

I cleared my browsers' caches and rebooted the computer in hopes of possibly fixing the problem, but they're still returning a "DNS Error: Cannot find server" error message. I guess I'll wait a few hours and try it again...

I finally got together enough cash to order the VE-1 Elintseeker from Overdrive last night (Thursday) and paid $200.37 for it via Paypal. Last night, I checked the order and it said it was still pending. This morning, I tried to check my order status again, and none of my browsers (IE8, Firefox or Google Chrome) can resolve Overdrive's server. According to them, its like the server no longer exists. Paypal processed the payment because the $200 was taken out of my account this morning. Is this an example of the infamous server problems I've heard some people mention? And more importantly, will this affect my order in terms of Overdrive "losing" it?

If the "completed" toy version is supposed to cost more than the resin prototype, it'll easily be upward in the neighborhood of $3000 to $3500 US. But we still have about 4 to 6 months to see what becomes of all this, so lets just hold tight and wait for the outcome. If it's still a ridiculously overpriced toy that's produced on a per-order basis, then so be it. There are still plenty of WAVE SDF-1s floating around on eBay...

The WAVE SDF-1 was a birthday present from my wife back in February of this year, and it took her quite a bit to track it down. I'm perfectly happy with it, now that I've seen the alternative.

Well...this didn't turn out to be vaporware, but it may as well have been. Hats-off to those crazy/rich enough to throw over $2k + shipping (I don't EVEN want to think what that'd be!) on this. My sense of nostalgia would have to override everything else in my life, including my marriage, kids, bills, and food (no matter how many Big Macs that may be) to justify buying it. Definitely a pass...

So here's a question...

With all the ire against the Yamato Q-Rau, what could Yamato do to create a V2 Q-Rau? The main body, head, and upper missile pods are perfect as-is. The arms and legs could be more anime-accurate. The arms are a tad too banana-shaped, leaving the forearm tri-blasters in a weird position. The legs, to me, could use a lot more hip and knee articulation as well. And yes, each and every variant should come with the appropriate pilot figure...

So what do you all think? Could a V2 Q-Rau be worth the hard-earned cash? Or would it end up a shelf-warmer similar to the original and the Destroids?

I really wish they would do a green one so I could get 2 or 3. Why not throw in a Chlore and Emilia repaints while they're at it.

Or at the very least, a "Basic Grunt" repaint from DYRL. All that would have required is recasting it in shades of purple with no retooling of the design whatsoever.

I'm about 5 years late to the party on this, since I just recently acquired my first Q-Rau...the Max version. But for the mecha that it represents, I have to admit that it's pretty spot-on. The absence of a pilot figure with the Max Q-Rau isn't really a big deal to me, but I do like the way Yamato was able to get the interior of the battle suit as close to anime-accurate as possible without going overboard with hundreds of the blood vessel-like wires surrounding the pilot. The Gold Book even goes so far as to show that some of these wires attached to control rings that fit over the pilot's fingers. No, it doesn't transform...but none of the original TV/DYRL enemy mecha ever did. The only possible improvement that could be made would be giving the hips slightly more articulation and no parts-swapping on the lower missile pods, but aside from that, this toy is damn-near as perfect a representation of the Q-Rau as we could ask for. The smooth organic design of this particular mecha lends to its rather plain appearance compared to a VF-1 or Destroid...but that's how it appears in DYRL.

I may be in the small minority here, but my Q-Rau doesn't (yet) suffer from the "Floppy Mess Syndrome" that I've heard so many others have complained about. Well, the head WAS a bit loose, but that was easily fixed. The legs, and arms on this one are all very tight...and a single drop of Super Glue tightened up the head unit. The fingers on the hands were surprisingly tight. I had read somewhere that the hands are usually two of the floppiest things on the Q-Rau. Personally, I like this toy...

Honestly, I can't see what else Yamato could have possibly done with this mecha design-wise. I think this may be a prime example of anime magic not transferring very well to a 3D version of a mecha.

If they don't think the Spartan is a stand-alone winner then i'd love to see them make it into some sort of giftset and package it with another toy that people might want. Make it a 1/60 Spartan and Vritai gift set featuring the Spartan toy and a Vritai toy with various points of articulation. Then people who want to have Vritai attacking Hikaru with a pipe will go ahead and buy the Spartan figure also.

That may also work against it too. Instead of making the Spartan with an average price point of $75.00 US, bundling it with another mecha would drive the two-pack up to be even more expensive than the VE-1 or VT-1.

What do you mean that Yamato is not going to finish the Destroid line??? As mentioned above, the Phaanx is a sure thing, which means that the only one left is left is the Spartan!!

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but the last time Graham checked, Yamato had no intention of making the Spartan, much to many MW members' outrage...hence no "complete" set of Destroids.

...I don't necessarily believe they should have everything tampoed on but at least one or two of the obligatory markings would be welcome. Especially since we've been spoiled by the newer VFs.

The Destroids DO have a few obligatory markings tampoed on them. The white stripes on the legs (and hips of the Defender). Aside from that, everything else is decal-tastic.

Well...the Phalanx COULD be headed the way of vaporware. It wouldn't be the first Destroid to see a resin prototype leak onto the internet, then disappear altogether. And since Yamato has already stated that it isn't going to produce a "complete" set of Destroids, who knows what we may or may not get. It's similar to Zentraedi/Meltrandi mecha...we've gotten a single enemy mecha since the 1/60 line started back in the late 90s/early 2000s, with no apparent plans to make anything else.

I meant something along these lines...

photo courtesy of www.anymoon.com

Don't get me wrong I really like them but they should considering the price it is for a non transforming "toy".

Still patiently awaiting the lanx.

I've pondered the price point myself. And the conclusion I've reached is that the Destroids DO have a gimmick like the Valkyries have, except its not transformation. The Destroids have the whole "modular mix-and-match" gimmick instead. Apparently this is what Yamato considers justification for these mecha costing anywhere from $75 to $100 US, depending where you buy them. Being able to create Tomahawks with Defender arms, or a Defender with chest-mounted missile launchers is something that I'm sure SOMEONE finds to be a cool feature. Me...not so much, but whatever floats your boat, I suppose. And in order to take advantage of this gimmick, you'll have to purchase multiple Destroids. It's a wonderful marketing strategy, if nothing else.

The way I look at it, by the end of SWI, when UN Spacy crew and material were dwindling, I'm sure there were all kinds of "Frankensteined" Destroids cobbled together out of spare parts of other Destroids, so Yamato took the modular nature of these toys and ran with it. The way that the arm cannon barrels are completely removable on the Tomahawk would suggest that there could possibly be an aftermarket accessory pack made that would update them to construction models like they appeared in Macross 7. The Tomahawk's arms were converted into giant shovel buckets similar to those found on a back-hoe.

I know something like that isn't likely, since it'd almost be a guaranteed non-seller, but the option is there if someone ever wanted to tackle a custom project...

Honestly peter, that's also where I'm at too. I'm 36, so I grew up in the exact same era that you did...and the only two Macross series I can really say I like is SDFM and DYRL. And I can pretty much cite the exact same reasons you listed. Macross Plus was probably the only "newer" Macross offering I halfway liked. Everything else is pretty much what sketchley said: juvenile breast-fetish, coming-of-age crap that so much of modern anime is geared toward...

I'm also on the East Coast (Maryland), and I ordered a 1/60 VF-1J Mass Production Valkyrie and a Super/Strike FAST Pack set from HLJ and they were shipped SAL. It took 14 days for it to get to my local Post Office. I know HLJ's site says to allow up to 45 days + about a week for processing, so technically it would take as long as 60 days, but it rarely takes that long for shipments sent to the US.

Actually I had not. That interview actually puts a whole new spin on things. I guess everyone can disregard my original post because I stand corrected on several points. All Macross series being "TV series/movies" within the Macross universe WOULD explain the liberal use of different design elements. And it also allows for the vastly different "flavors" of the varies series as well.

*also deleted...

Yeah, the hatchet decal is on the first decal sheet that comes with the OD Tomahawk...which I'm assuming is the same one that comes with the original Tomahawk. The two decal sheets allow for a ridiculous amount of customization. I'm a little surprised that the original color schemed Destroids don't come with the second sheet of decals.

*original post removed by author on his own recognizance...apologies to all for coming across as a troll. That was not my intention...