Hiriyu

Well, I've had mine (#2894) for about a week now, long enough to form an opinion and make some observations. All in all, I'd say that I'm satisfied with what I bought - though I'm neither underwhelmed or overwhelmed by the product. This is my first Toynami toy of any type. Here are the slight issues/gripes I have with mine, none of which have made the MPC Alpha a make or break proposition for me: 1) "Opus' disappearing o-ring" in right arm - oddly enough, this made no difference and arms are not at all floppy. 2) Chest-piece hinge broken on one pivot before removal from box - a bit of a pain, but nicely and completely repaired by building up the area slightly with Elmer's glue. 3) Paint on nosecone not completely flush/inline with paint on fuselage sides. As for the positives: I really like the overall sculpt. Though it can't compare with fan works like John Moscato's beautifully over the top rendition, it compares favorably with any of the old Gakken toys (I own or have owned every Alpha toy Gakken ever made with the exception of the smaller 1/72s). In comparison with the old Gakken 1/55 two and three mode versions, this thing is actually quite amazing. In no way though, would I consider it to be the structural equal of the old Gakkens, particularly the beefy 1/35s. I also like the overall weight of this toy, though I'd agree with others in that the placement of some of the diecast parts could be questionable - namely the intakes and lifting arm covers. In terms of diecast usage and placement, as stated by others as well, I find these quite comparable to the Yamato 1/60 line - You either like it or you don't. Personally, I don't mind. The transformation mechanism(s), though fairly complex compared to any of the older Alpha toys, seems to work pretty well though in some cases can be kind of frightening to the user . Namely the leg, fuselage, and wing extension and retraction. Once you have a feel for it and the parts have unbound a bit, it's not really an issue, but there were a few heart-stoppping moments for me the first time around. The landing gear are of course kind of silly and small (microscopic even), but I think that most people's complaints about these, and some other parts on the Alpha as well, have been the result of not using them to their fullest extent (pun intended ). Lastly, I'd like to mention the pilot figure and little folded-up ride armor. These, in my opinion, were nicely executed and are overall a nice touch.

I was definitely a Lego kid myself. I remember my aunt sending me my first kit, the Expert Builder (predecessor to Technic or whatever they call it now) GoKart kit back in the mid-late '70s at age seven or eight. The holy grail back then was the Auto Chassis kit with piston engine and full suspension, which took me a few years to lay my hands on. I also fondly remember my old Expert Builder Helicopter kit with geared rotor/stabilizer and retractable landing gear. While all the other kids were screwing around with the inferior castle and space legos, I was building whacked out mechanical contraptions of my own design, like 4-speed crank [and later, electric motor] operated gearboxes and differentials, often integrating them with more static toys and models. I actually won a high school science fair for an older sibling with one of these machines. Man, I wish I still had some of that stuff...

I'm still waiting for my Henshin Robo ride armor to arrive (bought the day after Anubis'), but I'd tentatively like to commit to the repro decals. Not sure about the condition of the original stickers/sheet yet, but fresh spares can't be bad in any case. *edit - If my stickers are OK, I'd be more than happy to scan them at high res *

Kin, Truly incredible work, my lower jaw is on the floor! Earlier in this thread, you mentioned the possibility of using foam as an internal stiffener. This stuff is readily available, inexpensive, and works well, but requires a fairly long set time compared to industrial 2-part urethane foam. Also, since the substrate is paper, you would likely want to add small amounts cumulatively so as not to saturate your paper. At any rate, thank you for sharing this terrific project with us!

That's hardly a strictly asian discipline... If I recall correctly, this skill actually comes from Betelgeuse . ...And slightly on-topic, Graham, I believe that the reasons movies like Hero and Crouching Tiger do better in the states is that they've actually received wide release and heavy promotion, whereas "legitimate" Kung Fu flicks are much more a niche which generally doesn't recieve regular media attention.

There's also the possibility that there are not a substantial amount of these valks left for him to sell, so no need for a substantial amount of buyers. Just a few freakish big spenders required

Yup, been wondering about that comparison myself... This thing is bigger (read, larger physically) than I had thought. Waiting for mine to arrive...

http://www.somethingawful.com/

[Kent Brockman] Looking Off-Camera 'Hmm... Do we have a source on this story?' Furiously Scribbling on a Notepad '"A bunch...of drunken... fanboys. Right!"' To Camera 'So there we have it folks, once again, I've been had.' [/Kent Brockman]

Happy 1000th I'm kind of waiting to see if I get a 'second chance' offer from the seller myself - it wouldn't surprise me a bit...

The last couple of times I've visited both Frys and Best Buy I've ended up answering product questions from other customers, since there were essentially no service people present... Though there were a bunch of deaf-mute robots in white and blue shirts alternately wandering around glassy-eyed and/or pretending to inventory and restock the shelves. The real question here is this one, of course: how the heck do folks in retail stores always seem to know to seek me out for product advice in the first place?

Quite the contrary - As a seller, you should be happy that this guy is bidding on your auctions. All he is doing is elevating bid levels incrementally, user by user. The dedicated buyer will always place a larger bid and win through in the end, albeit at a higher price... As a typical buyer, it's damned annoying to have to endure this sort of behaviour . I have reason to believe that 'lohlohsohsoh' may have just generated another account : 'psychoskullleader'...

Okay, I have to vent (this post is not regarding any particular auction, but rather an individual Ebay member)... Check out this c*cks*cker's bidding habits. He (or she) systematically "tests" high bids - I've seen this user bidding on many auctions, winning none. I'd imagine, were it an isolated case, that perhaps shill bidding is the object. However, this user is bidding on many different seller's items. lohlohsohsoh F*cker. It wouldn't annoy me so much, but I was carrying the high bid for the last couple of days, and this "person" placed 21 bids to test my resistance (I'm 'jeremymtc' on Ebay) . I'm all for a good simple snipe, but stuff like this is ridiculous.

Another -10 (you're supposed to be running down your supporters, not harmless little birds!) Vote for Frankenstein!

I personally like the 1/60, actually much moreso than the 1/48. However, I don't really think it's completely fair to say that the 1/60 is "more accurate to the line art". There are plenty of novel features on the 1/48 line like the telescoping thruster nozzles and built-in heatshields which place it much closer to the line art in these respects. Proportionaly, I feel that the 1/60 suffers from excessive length in the legs and feet, and in a couple of other crude details, though I do agree about the canopy. That said, to each his own. There are reasons to appreciate both

One more for the list... "Dagget"

I'm not completely sold on it yet, waiting for more info and reviews before I plunk down. I've never been as much a fan of the run 'n gun games as I have the more strategy oriented shooters. Still, early reports state that it will have a little more depth than its predecessors...

Thanks for posting the pics (and the movie) guys. It *appears* from the pics that the knee-cap parts are not hinged like on the 1/35 Gakken, rather they look like they just have enough flare to slide past the mid-section of the leg... Something which I've been wondering about.

I agree with Crisp here. I manufacture aluminum dies for injection molded plastics myself, this is where the major production expenses come in to play. It is actually cheaper and easier to tool solid parts using 2 part molds than it is for hollow parts using up to 5 part molds... Though costs have come down quite a bit in the last few years due to the CNC revolution.

Are you playing the orginal IL-2, or FB/Aces? The MX is well known to be a rather "sucky" video solution. Both play very well on my current box, and even played well with my old FX5200. However, I don't know of anyone who can play with 16+ B17s without a little bit of lagginess. I didn't look up the specs on your mobo, but if you have an AGP port you should have no problem running any AGP card, provided that your PCI slots aren't loaded up and crowding it physically - unless your board/case are one of those ridiculous sub-micro jobs. My specs: P4 2.66 (Non-HT) / 533fsb 1 Gig PC2700 Radeon 9800 Pro 128 SBPCI 128 4.1 19" Flat Screen CRT

OmniBot would take them both, unless you're talking about the RC Voltron

Not Canada bashing, but nearly every package I send there is 'held up' in customs or in delivery, anywhere from 2-6 weeks(!). Nowadays, I just let my customers know in advance that Canadian in-transit times are not guaranteed. Let's not start on import duties...

Huh? Ditto. VHS? What's that? My collection is all on Super-8.

Actually, it kind of reminds me of the Gunstar from Last Starfighter...

Thanks Pat. I didn't/don't remember that character from the show, and thought that it may have indicated a tie-in for the new show.