Cyclone Trooper

Working for Toys R Us all these years, I've indulged in my fair share of collecting everything from Gundam to Star Wars to Macross; as well as observed the shopping habits of local collectors. And I've found it to be fun to treat it almost like a psychological experiment. Now, in my experience, I've found that there are three distinct groups of collectors...

The first group is the one that I can say that I belong to: The "Open-and-Play" group. These are collectors who will actually open something like that hard-to-find Star Wars figure or that ridiculously expensive 1/48 weathered-special Yamato Valkyrie. We apply decals with wild abandon, have no qualms about customizing a $100 SHGM-PRO Gundam figure with our own paint schemes, and generally don't keep the packages of anything we purchase.

The second group is the much more anally-retentive one: The "Mint-In-Package" group. These are the Star Wars collectors who search through a store's entire stock, checking figure cardbacks for the smallest creases and imperfections with the same meticulousness as a master jeweler examining a diamond for flaws. These are the collectors who will spend tens of thousands of dollars in their lifetime amassing a large collection of merchandise, but will absolutely refuse to remove any of it from its original packaging for ANY REASON WHATSOEVER! Their "collection rooms" generally look more like an aisle in a TRU stockroom than a collection. Boxes stacked perfectly from floor to ceiling, catagorized by item, character, theme, etc. Some of them could nearly be considered monuments to OCD behavior.

And lastly, there is the third group who is an eclectic mix of the first two groups: The "Buy-One-Get-One" group. These are the collectors who will invariably purchase two of everything, no matter what it is. One to open and play with...one to keep in mint condition. This is the more problematic group because they tend to clutter their homes up not just with the "MIP" stuff, but all the opened toys as well. This group also tends to keep all the empty boxes from the toys and collectibles that they've opened. Not all of them do, but a good majority that I've encountered definitely do. This is also the group that tends to flood eBay with items marked up 300% too...

Now, decide which group you would say you belong to, and we'll continue...

I've read a few people here on MW make clear-cut statements that SOME Macross items are "toy" toys and others are toys for "adult collectors." I think its safe to assume that we all know the difference between them (i.e.: Bandai 1/55 VF-1: toy; Yamato 1/60 VF-1: adult collectible). I've also heard comments made to the effect of "I'll buy a Yamato Valkyrie...but it'll stay in the box, never to see the light of day." I'm going to play devil's advocate here and pose a question based on comments like this. If this is the general thought process behind collecting higher-end Macross items, then why should companies like Bandai or Yamato even bother with making them transformable at all, if most collectors feel that they are to be treated like VERY expensive preassembled model kits? Just release each Valkyrie in all three modes, pick the mode you like best...and just purchase that one. If its basically going to stay hermetically sealed in a climate-controlled room, never to be removed from its packaging...are some collectors, in essence, just spending hundreds of dollars for nifty box art?

I've always been of the opinion that you should enjoy these things to their fullest, so I've never really understood the whole "keep it pristine and unopened" mentality. I'd love to have some insight into the minds of other collectors on this...

My love affair with Macross began like a lot of the other "old timers" on here...with Robotech. Even in its bastardized rewritten state, Macross was the most appealing of all 3 series to me. It had a much more realistic feel because it had mecha that was believable, comparatively speaking. Veritechs were quick and deadly fighter/robots while the Destroids were basically 35-foot tall infantry/artillery. Around the summer of 1986, my local comic shop procured several imported Macross model kits and books, including the (at the time) never-before-seen Flashback 2012 book and the famous Gold Book, which I purchased a year and a half later. The shop owner was the one who introduced me and my friends to the concept of the Macross movie (DYRL) by allowing us to leaf through the Gold Book. Because the only information we could get our hands on at the time (remember, there was no internet back then) was the Robotech Art 1 and 2 books, we had never seen a Strike Valkyrie before...nor did we know that "Valkyrie" was the correct name! The comic shop also had a list of videos that could be imported from Japan...one of them was simply called "Macross: The Movie" on the order sheet. The shop owner assured us that it was indeed the same DYRL movie from the Gold Book, and was even dubbed in English. And it could be ours for $100 plus shipping. We pooled our money and preordered it. $100...for a freaking VHS tape. But when it arrived, we were treated to our first glimpse of the "real" version of Macross. The version of the movie we got was not the heavily-edited Clash of the Bionoids, but an unedited version that still had Minmay's shower scene, the beheading of the Macross citizen, and Bodolza's head exploding under a hail of gunpod fire. It also had Japanese subtitles, which I found strange. But a few years later, I was told that this particular dub was used to teach Japanese-speaking people how to speak English...whether that was true or not, I dunno. For those who are aware of the various dubs, this is the one that has the Zentran uttering the line "A man and a woman! It must be Protoculture!" The voice actors were supposedly from both China and Australia.

The DYRL redesign of the SDF-1 struck a resonating chord in me and my friends, leading us to use that version in our later roleplaying campaigns. Yes, I was a complete Macross RPG geek back in the late 80s. lol We used the old Palladium Robotech RPG book, but everything was quickly relabeled with their correct names, including the characters. Lisa became Misa, Minmei became Minmay, Rick became Hikaru, etc. The material we used incorporated all the "new" stuff from DYRL, including the strike cannon, ARMDs and redesigned Zentraedi and Meltrandi. And we never ventured into any of the other source material pertaining to Southern Cross or MOSPEADA.

Because of this, I became an obnoxious Macross "purist" for a few years in the late 80s/early 90s...quick to jump into someone else's Robotech conversations and correct them with information that they were fairly unaware of. I'd flash my Gold Book at them like it was the Gutenberg Bible, showing the error of their sinful "Robotech" ways. Also by this time, I had acquired several other Japanese Macross sourcebooks as well. I felt smugly sure of myself as a Macross know-it-all. Since then, I've found that I was woefully wrong! lol

By the early 90s, Macross II came out and left me sort of put off by the whole Marduk thing...and the extreme leap into the timeline's future. I saw it as little more than "Macross: The Next Generation." So I sort of drifted away from Macross until the Spring of 1995 when I caught wind of something called Macross Plus. Because of the bad taste that MII had left in my mouth, I was a tad dubious as to what this would be about. But I preordered the first video tape...and was blown away by everything from the characters to the storyline. I DID have to get used to the YF-19/YF-21 designs simply because I had been so used to the tried-and-true VF-1 design for so long (and still prefer it over anything else). But the writing was good, the visuals were spectacular (I loved the scene where Sharon Apple activates the entire planetary defense grid against a single Valkyrie), and the characters were engaging. Yes, there was a love triangle, but it was between three adults instead of between teenagers (and Misa, but she sometimes acted like a teenager herself), and therefore was a bit more mature than the sometimes comedic "Three's Company" triangle from SDFM. I was officially hooked again!

It would be many years later before I'd see any of the newer Macross offerings...all of which were viewed via the internet. Gotta love YouTube! Macross 7 came across too much like Power Rangers to me, though it did have some good parts, but there were more cringe-worthy ones than not. Macross Zero was beautifully-done, but it didn't hit me the right way because of the "prequel updating" that was done to it. I've already covered my opinions of M0 in another thread, so I'll spare you that rant again. If I consider it a stand-alone project, then I have absolutely no problem with it at all. And then I sat through Frontier...

Don't get me wrong, Frontier was good...it had the visuals of M0, the designs of DYRL and M7, and was episodic like SDFM. It just felt too much like a retelling of everything that had already come to pass in the Macross universe. That was my only real gripe with it--aside from the anorexic mecha. Otherwise, it carries on the spirit of Macross in spectacular fashion!

It's been nearly 25 years since seeing Macross as the first installment of Robotech, and my passion for it is as alive as ever...

The people who think that's it's a sign that Macross II is going to be recanonized are daydreaming...

I wasn't thinking that at all...

I've only seen the series once, and honestly I'm recalling it from memory. Those who have studied Macross F frame by frame like the Dead Sea Scrolls are obviously going to have more insight into the ship design than I can remember. It was just one of those things that I saw for a split second before a Vajra destroyed it and thought it may have a fleeting resemblance to a Marduk ship. But maybe I'm completely off base with this. I'm not too proud to admit when I may be completely out in left field on something.

Okay, I can't give a specific time index or anything for what I'm about to describe, because I don't have a set of DVDs (pirated or otherwise) for Macross F. But I know everyone who's seen the series a few times will know what I'm talking about...

The research ship that Ranka is jettisoned from in an escape pod as a child looks exactly like a Marduk Dreadnought from Macross II. It has a vaguely Zentraedi-ish organic design, with four leg-like prows at the bow and stern of the ship. Can someone confirm this with a screencap or am I completely imagining this? If that's what the ship design was supposed to be based on, then was this possibly Big West giving a brief nod to MII? There are two flashback sequences during the course of the series that shows this particular scene...

Or is this just one of those coincidences where the design just HAPPENED to look similar to the ship I'm referring to? With all the other fan-service Macross F has been guilty of, I wouldn't be at all surprised if this was a blatant case of "Here's to all the MII fans out there! If you blink, you'll miss it!"...

AWESOME! Is that the new VF-31 Bulimia?

The VA-3 was just an idea Kawamori came up with around the time that Macross Plus was in production, but it was never actually used. The Cheyenne is a "proto-Destroid" that eventually evolved into the Tomahawk. You might consider the Cheyenne to be the "Mk I" version of the Tomahawk, though there's no official information to support this claim. Ironically, the design was resurrected in Macross Frontier as the Cheyenne Mk II. Neither of these Destroids seem very inspired in terms of appearance, but they are functional nonetheless...

In contrast, check out the Destroids from Macross II in terms of sheer hulkishness. MacII took the existing Destroid designs and pumped them up with steroids.

I suppose the newer designs are no less outlandish than past incarnations since the VF-1. Macross Plus was the era of the Valkyries-with-boobs. Macross 7 continued the techno-boob movement but added Transformers-style head units featuring mouths and noses. Even the VF-17, as kickass as it is, has tri-barrel "boob cannons". On a side note, Macross 7 could be marketed here in the US by someone like HG as "Guitar Hero Galactic Power Team" and no one would notice it was originally a Macross series at all.

The only quasi-realistic designs that came out of that era were the Macross Plus Valks, in spite of the small arms and uni-boob of the YF-19 and the fact that the YF-21 simply looks like a transformable Q-Rau. The VF-11 Thunderbolt was simply an updated version of the VF-1A with transitional elements leading to the YF-19. Had we seen more Zentran/Meltran-influenced variable mecha as time went on, I could fully understand that, since its their manufacturing technology that has been the driving force behind reclaiming Earth and producing everything from clones and toothbrushes to hippocows and colony ships ever since the end of SWI. But instead, we get the current crop of bug-like mecha... *sigh*

Well, I remember when Mac Zero was 1st announced, the Hory Froating Head himself said he won't care too much about continuity, thus we have a more advanced looking VF-0 compared to VF-1.

But I agree that the valks seem to get more.... anorexic. Honestly, I've always thought that the VF-25's battroid mode have too many lines..... too noisy.

I also suspect that loads of people are thinking the same way.... i mean, after all, there MUST be a reason why the VF-1 remains the most popular/ representative valk so far, that manufacturers keep churning out rendition after rendition ( and in the process, a weight loss program is implemented as wellm lol~!)

Same reason George Lucas gave for his prequels having a much more modern look...for no other reason except because he can do it, continuity be damned.

And you actually touched on another reason I'm cooled off toward the VF-25's design. The "noise" factor. Excessive panel lines coupled with a comparatively elaborate paint job make for a Valkyrie that's difficult to take in all at once from a visual standpoint...at least in CGI form. At least with the Bandai toys, you can sit and examine them at your leisure...or at least until your eyes go crossed...

Case in point: I didn't even know Ozma's VF-25S had a gigantic Skull Squadron logo painted on the aircraft's "back" until I saw the actual 1/60 toy. The paint scheme was just too "busy" in the series to catch it right away. All I gathered from it in the series was it had the same yellow/black color scheme as Roy's VF-1S, therefore Ozma is MF's "Roy" character. Beyond that, I couldn't tell what the actual layout of the paint scheme was to save my life.

Now that I think about it, the VF-0 is like a Hollywood-made "movie version" of the VF-1...same basic design, but with all kinds of stuff added in for no other reason but to modernize the design and make it more eye-catching for "the big screen."

Tangentially, I utterly despise the term "Chunky Monkey". Regardless of the Takatoku's blocky design and the rhyming quality of the term, it reflects nothing appropriate to the toy. What's any more 'monkey-like' about the design than any other Valk?

It was the only thing I could think of that would fit in with the "wasp-waist" term...and its become such a common moniker of the original VF-1 that it just seemed natural. It was used to convey an idea, not as a slam against Bandai or its original line of Valkyries. No offense meant!

The past couple of years has seen somewhat of a "Macross Revival" both in Japan and abroad. Yamato has single-handedly usurped Bandai as the go-to company for SDFM/DYRL-era mecha. Macross Frontier has introduced a whole new generation of viewers (and collectors) to the franchise. It's given a new singer nearly the same legendary status as Mari Iijima. And, with some exceptions, its just darned cool to watch...

The mecha designs (and thus, the toys based on said designs) in recent years have taken a turn that I really wished they hadn't. First, I'll cover Macross Frontier's insectoid-like mecha. Every single Valkyrie in MF looks like some form of bug when in Battroid mode. The VF-25's super-thin waists and arms, talon-like feet, and wings being mounted on the back like gossamer wings don't help to disprove my opinion either. The head units appear especially insect-like to me, with the overly-thin laser barrels and sensors appearing more like compound eye blisters than anything else. Now I understand that this may very well be the look that Kawamori was shooting for when he designed the VF-25...but still, it just makes the UN Spacy's mecha look too much like something the Vajra would use in its arsenal instead of the other way around. The VF-25 and VF-27 (and to a lesser degree, the VF-117) all have a decidedly organic feel to them when in Battroid mode, which just doesn't feel right to me. It just seems like the further into Macross's future we go, the Valkyries keep getting more and more anorexic and alien-looking. And enemies in Macross are becoming more and more organic and exotic as well. What's next? Space-borne sacks of cosmic goo bent on intergalactic genocide? And the viscous nature of their bodies absorb soundwaves? Eventually, it'll be difficult to distinguish who the good guys and bad guys are during combat sequences because the mecha designs will look too similar...but I digress. That's a discussion best left to the Movies/TV threads.

The other issue I have is over the whole "past technology looks WAY more futuristic than present-day technology" thing. This is the same phenomenon seen in the Star Wars prequels. This would apply specifically to Macross Zero. Again, we have a Valkyrie that looks like it'd be right at home in the 2040s or 2050s instead of 2007/2008. The VF-0 has the same "zig-zag" panel lines that the VF-11 has, and shares several other design characteristics with the VF-25 instead of the VF-1. It's understood that in both the Star Wars prequels and M-Zero, that visual effects technology had advanced by lightyears since the original releases of the Original Trilogy and SDFM, respectively. But there's also a little thing called continuity that has to be taken into consideration. Why would the UN Spacy suddenly scrap the super-advanced design of the VF-0 in favor of a design that simply looks like a retro-engineered F-14 with transformation capabilites? The argument here from most would be that SDFM was made in the early 80s, so the designs will of course look dated. True. I can't argue with that. But I just hate how all sorts of "prequel" subject matter tends to be given a much more modernized look than the original series or movies that its based on. If you stand a Yamato VF-0 next to a VF-1, which one honestly looks more advanced? It definitely won't be the VF-1...

The VF-0 also tends to suffer from the same anorexia and insectile anthropomorphism that the MF Valkyries have, though not nearly as exaggerated. I guess I'm just saying that I prefer my mecha to have a little junk in the trunk instead of being skinny beanpoles with bug eyes... The VF-1 isn't exactly a heavyweight mecha by any means, but I guess I like the fact that it still maintains the look of being a machine when in Battroid mode instead of resembling some techno-organic creature.

Does anyone else feel the same way or at least sort of understand where I'm coming from with this?

I was just looking through Mr. March's macross mecha manual and was appreciating how awesome the SDF-2 is....

How sweet would that be as a figure?

The only downside to the SDF-2 is that its supposedly non-transformable. It's strictly a battlecruiser...

Mods, move this to the proper thread accordingly, but for the time being, here's the link to the song in english...

There's a singer who translated it into English and actually performed it on YouTube. Do a search on YouTube for Christine Vee. I've heard it...and honestly, while she's not a horrible singer, it just sounds kind of goofy in anything other than Japanese. Apparently Vee took the lyrics from the screenshot in DYRL where Minmay is holding a sheet of SDF-1 stationary with the English lyrics on it at the end of the movie.

For what its worth, it DOES give us an idea of what her song would have sounded like, had she been singing in anything besides Japanese...for better or worse.

Yeah, because NO ONE watched cartoons for bright and flashy visuals back in the '80s! Everything was like "My Dinner With Andre" on slo-mo.

LOL...okay, point taken!

...its a simplistic macross which relies on a lot of amazing visuals to keep people interested.

Well...statistically, there ARE more and more people growing up with ADD and ADHD than ever before, and subsequently, our worldwide society is developing into a kind of "microwave mentality" where everything has to be instant, interesting, short, and shallow for it to hold the interest of the vast majority of younger people for any given length of time. I have several nieces and nephews who fall into this category, so I speak from my experiences of being around them when I say this. Bright and flashy visuals coupled with ear-splitting audio will hold their attention for maybe up to 2 minutes...then they lose interest to the point of wandering off to find something else to do for about 5 minutes.

Not trying to offend anyone who has ADD/ADHD, I'm just trying to give a possible answer to your line of reasoning...

Macross F, just like Roy's been saying, is simply a product of its current environment...

I'm gonna get flogged for saying this, but I've never liked the Quarter's design...and therefore will pass on this one in favor of the Yamato SDF-1.

I think it really has to do with basically the same priciple that edwin3060 has been hitting on...that its TOO robotic and not "ship-like" enough. In 2009, the SDF-1's transformation sequence was a necessary evil to reconfigure the ship's power grid in order to fire the main cannon. So in essence, the transformable nature of the SDF-1 was because of a design flaw...a really cool-looking one that kicked copious amounts of ass, but a flaw nonetheless. But by the 2040s, transformable battlefortresses are not needed, for all intents and purposes. They can fire their main cannons without the need to change into a mile-long robot...so what tactical purpose does transformation serve, exactly? Aside from just the "cool" factor, that is?

M7 and MF's ships, with their swiveling head-unit bridge towers (why would someone design such a thing in the first place, really?), gunpod-style main cannons, and lightning-quick movements (compared to the SDF-1), they more or less just resemble oversized Valkyries with FPs instead of battlefortresses. In this respect, somewhere along the way, the big ships of Macross have crossed over into the realm of "super-robots" a la Voltron or Power Rangers or any of the non-UC Gundams.

Okay...let my flogging begin.

I have to agree with you here. Macross F is fan-catering at its most blatant. Now I can understand that its supposed to be a string of nods to the original Macross with the VERY similar character types (Michel/Max; Ranka/Minmay, etc.), the Miclone/Meltran love-hate thing between Michel and Klan (Max & Milia, anyone?), the DYRL-style SDF ship, the Britai, Kamjin, and Exedol clones...the list goes on. Then there were the ever slick reminders that we're watching a 25th anniversary homage to Macross by adding "25" to the SMS uniform sleeves, a split-second eye-catch outside the concert arena (the place with the two big dragons on the roof) where all the signs outside the building were displaying "Macross 25th." Alto emulating Isamu's hand gestures, the DYRL rehash scene where Alto saves Ranka in midair, etc. Again...I could waste time listing more examples, but we all know what they are.

While I also didn't think it was the worst thing I've ever seen, I can honestly say that I, too, was left feeling a bit more like I was watching softcore hentai than something that I'd be proud to include in my mind's vision of what "Macross" is supposed to be. I may be skirting disaster here by bringing this parallel up, but I simply found the whole war with the Vajra idea to be way too much like MOSPEADA, and the fact that Valkyrie pilots now have augmented flying armor that they can wear outside of their mecha only cements my MOSPEADA opinion even more. Let's see...a hive-mind xenological enemy with various "stages" of evolution controlled by a "queen" all across the cosmos. Yep, seen it before...in MOSPEADA.

Now as I said, its not the worst thing ever made. The writing was actually quite good, IF the subbing was accurate. For the most part, I enjoyed the battle scenes and most of the witty banter between the core cast. But the fact that there were so many characters who were designed to be instantly recognizable as anagrams of original Macross "celebrities" just got old after a while. Hmmm...how many drew the glaring parallel between Cathy Glass and Misa Hayase? A show of hands please?

The only tip-of-the-hat that I really enjoyed was the Zentraedi Battalion that was having its own little private war amongst the ranks. It was cool to see a mix of TV-style Zentran troops along with DYRL-style shock troopers...led by a Kamjin clone. Again, this was sort of a remake of the episode in SDFM where Kamjin's forces attempt to steal a miclone chamber...reworked a tad, but cool nonetheless.

Would I sit through all 25 episodes again? Probably not. I'd file this away in the "been there, done that, moving on" folder right along with Macross 7.

And I don't really feel the need to add a VF-25 to my list of "must-have" mecha either...but that's an opinion I'll expand upon in the Toys forum.

Well we at least have a definite length on this thing...65 centimeters (nearly 26 inches). That's 2.13 feet of Macross goodness!

Honestly, the only part of MII that I hated was the Marduk themselves. Before seeing this series, I had completely understood and bought into the idea that the Zentraedi, Meltrandi and human race were all "legacies" of the Protoculture; and that the Protoculture as a race was as dead as disco. But suddenly, MII renigs on that concept and REPLACES the Protoculture with the Marduk (or Mardook, depending on what source you go with), who are obviously very alive and thriving. One constant denominator about the Zentraedi and Meltrandi is the fact that their ship designs, mecha designs and weaponry haven't evolved at all in thousands of years. Its like their Factory Satellites and Production Planets had already reached their zenith of technological and destructive potential and simply churned out billions of Regults, Q-Raus/Reas, Command Ships, Destroyers, etc. over the centuries with relatively little variance.

But the Marduk arrive in our solar system with a fleet of Zentran-esque ships that are either refits of existing ships-of-the-line or "next-gen" variants. And legless battlepods... Someone correct me if I'm wrong here, but the original SDFM storyline (and the city scene in DYRL) had established that the Protoculture viewed the Zentraedi and Meltrandi ultimately as failures in their genetic experimentation because they became so uncontrollably violent. This caused the Schism War, which pitted Zentraedi, Meltrandi and the Protoculture's own Supervision Army in a 3-way struggle that ultimately brought an end to the Protoculture completely. That being said...who exactly were the Marduk supposed to be? Remnants of the Protoculture? A brand new race that had somehow defeated and enslaved the Zentraedi and Meltrandi?

And I'm in the minority here about how every panel, window, kitchen sink, garden hose, nut and bolt now open up on the SDF-1 like a badly-designed Transformer just to fire the Macross Cannon. Why overwork the plumbing?

I'm actually kinda glad that Kawamori banished this to the "alternate universe" bin. It just seemed so convoluted, considering everything that had already been established...sort of like what Enterprise did to the Star Trek franchise.

..which will cause oil prices to go up despite there being a surplus and no demand..

It's already started. I heard a report on our local news radio station that gas prices are expected to rise 18 cents before the end of March...putting the national average back above the $2 mark. Here we go again...

What is it with all the limited weathering editions that Yamato seems to be releasing lately?

Simple...

Like a lot of toy companies nowadays, Yamato is getting maximum use out of their toy molds by regurgitating the same two or three Valkyries or Destroids in various color schemes and "weathered specials" to keep collectors hopelessly addicted. I've worked for Toys R Us for what seems like eons...and I can attest to witnessing this addiction firsthand. The easiest example I can give you is the Clone Trooper action figure from Star Wars. Since Episode III came out 3 1/2 years ago, we've seen the same damned figure released and rereleased ad-nauseum with red, dark blue, light blue, dark green, light green, gold, gray, camo, black, brown, purple and orange accents on the armor. Oh, and let's not forget just plain white. For a while, it seemed Hasbro had every intention of creating non-canon Troopers just so it could release ones in hot pink or teal. But the reason Hasbro did this was to make the most of a single mold with very little (if any) retooling involved. And hardcore Star Wars collectors (mainly grown men), would come in and buy them by the dozens.

Yamato is most likely following this same marketing strategy right now. Release the same old Hikaru 1J/1S and Roy 1S with a light weathering wash...and market the hell out of them as a Limited Edition series. I'm fairly certain that the folks at Yamato have their fingers on the pulse of how their products are used and displayed after they're sold...as any manufacturer would. When enough of their Valkyries and Destroids started showing up on customizer sites with weathered effects, it sent a definite message that there is a somewhat viable market for weathered mecha. And there are collectors out there who will buy them, even if they ARE more expensive than a Valkyrie with Fast Packs because its different from anything else in their current collections...and they may not have the skills to do the weathering nor know someone who does. The end result is a "new" limited-production item that had practically no added cost to make, aside from what had to be spent on the extra paint for the airbrushing.

...at least not kid's parties.

O_o

lol

Oihan, I had a similar situation happen just yesterday. Apparently I am the only person on Macross World who had not seen the "lost footage" from DYRL that was used in the PSX game. Someone had posted a YouTube link to a dubbed version of it in a thread I had started. I thought this was the coolest thing since sliced bread. I further researched this clip and found a version of it with its original soundtrack. The bonus was that there was also a scene showing the ARMD-02 performing a "Daedalus Maneuver" complete with pin-point barriers covering the bow as it ripped through a Zentraedi Destroyer. Well, a few weeks prior, I had read an off-handed comment by another member about whether or not the DYRL SDF-1 could actually do the Daedalus Attack or not. When i saw this footage, I felt like I had found the Holy Grail of DYRL scenes...and created a new topic thread on it day before yesterday.

Yesterday morning, I found that my thread was gone. It had not been deleted like miriya's apparently had been, but had been moved to the YouTube thread. I didn't get an explanation as to why it was moved by a mod or anyone else. But honestly, they didn't have to. It was rather self-explanatory as to why a YouTube clip had been moved to the appropriate thread. Also, these DYRL clips are extremely old news to long-time members and are actually something of a bore to them at this stage of the game. And I was told so in the YouTube thread. Did I get offended? Not one bit. Why? Because I understand that there are going to be tons of things on here---especially where the older series and movies are concerned---that I will discover for the first time...things that other members have known about literally for years. Does this breed a certain level of "elitism" as you've put it, Oihan? Well...sure it does. Anyone who considers themselves an "expert" on any given subject will naturally find themselves asking, "Where have you been? Living under a rock somewhere? EVERYONE already knows about INSERT SUBJECT HERE. Is this wrong? No, not really. Could some people brush up on their people skills when they convey their disdain for the 15th "new" post on DYRL? Of course. But honestly, in the grand scheme of Macross World, its neither a democracy nor is it dictatorship. It's more akin to a prison yard (bad analogy, I know...but bear with me here, I'm going somewhere with this). The "general population" is allowed to mix and intermingle in the forums as long as the rules of the site are followed. But as soon as someone starts posting something that is inappropriate or just completely out of left field...the prison guards (the mods) do their jobs and perform a "lock down". Do prison guards have to notify prisoners why they're doing what they're doing? Absolutely not. You do as you're told...and that's that. Otherwise, life goes on here on Macross World fairly regimented and without too much "drama" with the exception of a few occasional outbursts.

By no means am I saying MW is a prison!! Just want to go on the record by pointing that out. I'm merely saying that forum sites, especially ones with specific themes (hence MACROSS World), have to keep the forums policed to insure that there's a certain level of continuity...and the prison analogy was the best one I could think of. Just like eugimon said, cats and dogs have no place in a fish forum, even though they all belong to the general animal kingdom. If you really look at a broad cross-section of threads in the forums, the mods really do allow quite a bit of lee-way when it comes to going off-topic once in a while. And that may be because the members here do a pretty good job policing themselves. The most I've seen a topic go awry is MAYBE a page or two before getting refocused...usually by a member. The mods only crack down on issues that truly deserve their time and attention. And if some of them seem surly or sarcastic...you can't really blame them. Moderation is not another word for "babysitting." And even if they do lower the boom on someone, its always with good reason. But honestly, the most I've ever seen one of them do is what amounts to a slap on the wrist...and it was deserved. But I have heard of outright bannings and account deletions, but I certainly don't believe that they take such extreme measures just because they're abusing their power.

At its heart, Macross World is an international site...and therefore has members from all different cultures. A comment made by someone could roll off the back of one person or decimate another, depending on how they want to take it, language barriers, etc. I don't necessarily think you need to have skin a foot thick to participate as an active member here. But I do think we, as members, are expected to be civil to one another...and not take ourselves or others so seriously. EXO (who is a mod, mind you) has often reminded people that its "just the internet" and he's absolutely correct. Perhaps other anime forums are run with quite a bit less decorum than MW, and therefore may have a more casual flow in topic discussions. But I have to agree that forums like that are a nearly unsearchable mess if you are looking for specific information. I've been on sites where I've searched for info on UC-era Gundam series...only to find rambling discussions that, ironically, gravitate toward whatever Gundam series is currently popular (Gundam 00, for example). That's great...but tells me absolutely nothing about 08th MS Team or War In The Pocket. In contrast, you don't find that here on MW. If you're searching for DYRL info, you can usually find volumes of it with little effort. Need lineart from the TV series? You'll find specific threads on that too. And all because MW is run like a well-tuned Valkyrie.

Just my 20,000 Yen...

In another thread, footage from the DYRL video game was posted that filled in the emergency launch of the DYRL version of the SDF-1 and also covered how the Prometheus was destroyed in the movie. I browsed YouTube and came across an extended version of that footage with the original soundtrack on it. What I discovered was the SDF-1 performing a "Daedalus Maneuver" using the ARMD-02. It also fills in the few seconds just before Minmay begins her legendary song. This is all incredibly NICE animation that closely fits into the original 1984 anime.

Enjoy...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pm3-MDSvLiQ