Hiriyu

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I haven't seen these posted yet in this thread...

Hmm... I've run across this preorder item in a few different places - the "Sue Graham" Shadow Fighter. Anyone know what this is? http://bigbadtoystore.com/toy.asp?Queryid=pre534

Thank you, very nice work. Mucho appreciado

Reference for the folks who wonder about the small size... There were two different "classic" Gakken 1/55 Alpha models (not to be confused with the horrid little 1/72s). One was a triple-change [almost] all-plastic toy, and the other was a two-mode (armo-soldier/armo-diver) toy with a fair amount of diecast. Each were available in blue/red/green. Both of the above were about 6.5"-7" tall in armo-soldier mode. If you had one of these, or have seen them in the past, this is about the size you should expect. Yes, they were quite a bit smaller than a 1/55 VF-1, but this is by design and is appropriate to the scale. I'd personally like for the price to be a little lower, for purely selfish reasons, but given that the original 1/55 triple-change Gakkens in good condition go for nearly the same price these days, it's not too terribly out of range considering that these new MPCs seem to have a fine level of finish/detail compared to the old ones. I'll definitely be picking some up to replace my long lost 1/55 Gakken Alphas - I remember buying all of mine for about $9.00 a pop back in the day . Wish I still had them, but at least I still have my old, headless, red 1/35 somewhere...

I remember back in '85 my friend telling me all about this Japanese version of Macross he had seen that was so badass... I can recall listening in disbelief as he told me about the nude Minmay scene, the different storyline, the VFs that all looked more like JetFire than the TV series valks, and that they took off upside down! I was highly skeptical of his claims , and never did see the movie 'til nearly 20 years later. Now, I've got the FX HK version and watch it regularly.

Yep, that's the link I was referring to. Veeery interesting stuff, in a completely morbid way . Thanks again for the info and helping to get me up to speed. 'Twill be interesting to see what develops from here... Any other comments or questions I'll post in the proper thread.

Ewilen, thanks for the clarification re the distinctions between trademark and copyright. I think I have a better handle on it now, but your reinforcement of my conspiracy theory paints a grim picture, if it's in any way close to truth. The reason I had mentioned copyright though, is that I had read a post in the legal thread which linked to the Toynami SP page, displaying HGs claimed copyright AND trademark for the products in question. I had mentioned the earlier, non-controversial, distribution agreement in my post more as a navigation point for my own muddled thoughts to rally 'round, and possibly for the benefit of anyone else not entirely entrenched in the 'legal debate' thing

Just wild fan speculation/conspiracy theory here, but while reading ewilen's latest comments a moment ago, I thought of an odd scenario which might be possible, but relies on a series of unsubstantiated assumptions... And making it fit right in here, I think Ok, first assumption, and a dirty little assumption at that: HG/TP's licensing contract does, at least semantically, appear to award exclusive international (outside of Japan) distribution and merchandising rights to HG. HG goes on to use dubbed and edited SDF:M footage as the first chapter in the R-show. However, all marketed merchandise/derivatives are released under the Robotech name, not under the Macross nomenclature. This continues for some time. Rather suddenly, about twenty years on, as yesterday's kids reach affluence, the original franchise sees a market boom. There is suddenly more money to be made from the franchise and HG takes notice. Someone at HG takes another look at the old contract to determine how they may cash in. HG realizes, perhaps due to the wording of the contract, they may possibly be able to assume a defensible full copyright for Macross, in the US at least. However, in order to do so, they need to establish precedent in trade using the Macross nomenclature. Up to this time, all retail products have appeared under Robotech umbrella. So out come the DVD sets etc. Once HG-licensed Macross product are in the retail channels in the US, under the Macross name, HG has backed their claim to domestic US copyright to their own satisfaction (no one else is or has been selling Macross here right?). HG feel they are then free to market any other merchandise bearing the name Macross in the US, because after all, they can now "prove" to the US courts that they have been the sole purveyors of US Macross product, and are therefore the rightful recipients of US copyright or trademark. I know that the above is wrong on so many levels, but what if that were actually what they were thinking?

Cool, thanks - neat to see it again, albeit in a less 'Saturday Night Fever'-esque type pose What did you use for the panel lining on the 1/48? Looks great.

I'd like to see those pics too. Congrats on the score, EXO. Definitely hardcore nostalgia material. Thinking about it now, I believe that mine was the 1S version too. Might I ask where the auction ended $ wise? It was about $10.00 when I saw it...

Boooo!

Same here. Make that a hat trick. Me too

Just got back home... Wow, what a morning. I am close to speechless... It was like total 'Geekstock' up there. Everything went off well, a couple of slight "hitches", but mission accomplished. I had goosebumps nearly the entire duration of the mission. The live radio "coverage" was very disorganized, the PA system sucked, but that's real grass-roots level organization for you. You guys should have seen the ovation that Mike Melville was given when they towed his craft down the runway, Mike riding on top of it like a space cowboy. He was woopin' it up pretty good Those Scaled Composites [Rutan] birds are things of absolute beauty. As odd as some of them appear (much like some of Kawamori's designs), you wouldn't expect that they'd actually fly, and stay in one piece while doing so. It's one thing to see pictures and models of them, quite another to see them actually taking off and swooping overhead. Sensory overload.

Well, you yourself likened it to the X-15 project , except that this one is capable of carrying 3 passengers, and was developed by a non-governmental agency using relatively small amounts of 2004 dollars. I think that's a fine accomplishment for what basically amounts to a group of [suitably harcore] civil aviators. I agree that this particular project doesn't really advance the state of the art in modern rocketry, but I don't think that was ever really the point. I personally see the point as being a demonstration of applied discipline and science over bureaucracy. I didn't think I brought up anything about the commercialization of space... Must have been the media. Oh, well, off to watch shiny things go "vroom" in the desert

Well said Skull Leader, thanks. Keep in mind, this project was financed through private funds (Paul G. Allen, co-founder of Microsoft ponied up the lion's share), for about the same amount of $$$ it would have required NASA just to do a feasibility study on paper. As a proof of concept, I'd say they've done remarkably well. ...And as Skull Leader says above, "Baby Steps"...

Anyone else going? http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/

Ah, yes, I am aware of this, however as I am the manufacturer of said part, the "worth" is whatever I bloody well choose it to be , and on the plus side, I have some very cooperative customers . At any rate, the package arrived safely at my customer's doorstep, so it's immaterial anyway.

Actually, I rather like the 'Hefty' properties of the 1/60. Incidentally, I traded off my sole 1/48 VF-1A precisely because of its lack of heft . I also find the 1/60 plenty 'Solid and Durable', provided that all of the fasteners are tightened down properly, which they are often not right out of the box. But then, they would not be 1/60 scale anymore, no?

Ran across this while browsing Ebay. This is an old boot in 1/100. I had one of these back in the old days circa 1984 - it was actually my first valk toy, though I had many of the old plastic model kits. Lots of diecast, but some of the plastic parts were pretty poor. The shoulder and back hinges were quickly broken on mine, within a week or two as I recall.

No need to get embarassed. At least you got something. Actually, in this thread, I think the embarrassment works inversely : the fewer you have, the less embarassed you should be

Update on mine: 1/72 : 0 1/60 : 15 (+1 incoming GBP armor set if that counts) 1/48 : 0

Good info Graham, thanks! Also, thanks for the Japanese review link Southpaw - It states pretty much what Graham said earlier, but with lots of sexy pictures

Huh, anybody else notice the shoulder 'slip-over' pieces? Guess the conjecture here on MW wasn't too far off . Notice that they're grey instead of white this time around?

Great news - nice little birthday present for me from Yamato. I'm waiting to hear from Kevin too Now how about that M0 Part 4 that was supposed to be released today?