Hiriyu

Like CB4, Straight outta Locash!

Excellent work, BlackAces! The following image from your website caught my eye: The plane in the left corner is actually a model of a real life, flying airplane (the "Proteus") made by Scaled Composites in Mojave, California. Scaled is headed up by none other than Burt Rutan, known for his "Voyager" trans-global aircraft, and who is a friend of a friend. Scaled is currently working on a similar plane ("White Knight"), which serves as a launch vehicle for their experimental low-orbit spacecraft being developed for the X-Prize competition. The X-Prize contest seems like something straight out of a science fiction story, but it's real. I imagine that many of the folks here will appreciate the purposes/goals of this project. Give it a read! If you like that, also check out my friend Peter's self-engineered and self built all-composite plane, Melmoth2 here. Melmoth2 recently graced the cover of Flying Magazine - some of you may have seen it. Cheers!

Wow, thanks! I will love them, and care for them, and stroke them, and pet them, and even call them 'George'! (You are correct, yes, I do wish...) Actually, I agree with the other posters - You should keep them. No telling what they may be worth in a few years.

Yes. You should sell them. To me. Immediately. For $25. All of them. I'll try to find space for them all. (I'm truly sorry, couldn't resist )

There are so many... But the one that, for some reason has stuck with me 'lo these many years, is in 'Miss Macross' where Hikaru intercepts a Zentraedi recon ship with his VF-1J. He storms into the ship commando-style by peeling open the nose and climbing inside, just to see the escape capsule launching. Seconds later, the Zentraedi ship self-destructs with Hikaru still inside. It was a new thing for me as a kid, to see the protagonist of a series undergo any kind of physical harm...

Thanks Jason, for the information and leads. I'm still searching, but I'll try to keep an eye open for your holy grail items as well. Best Regards

Maybe someone here has heard of this one: "30,000 Leagues Under The Sea", Produced by Toei 1970 This may be my holy grail of anime movies I saw as a kid. I can only turn up one reference to it on the web, and that's in Japanese (which I can't read). A quick web translation gave me the production date above, along with some badly garbled production info. I seem to recall seeing this on the old Tom Hatten show on KTLA [Los Angeles] way back in the day (maybe about 1983-4?)... Anyone else recall seeing this, or know where there may be more information or references to it? I tried Toei's webpage, but they don't seem to list it in their oldies sections. Here is the one Link I've found thus far... Anyone?

My first valk was like Exo's, one of those 1/100 knockoffs with the funky gun. It was purchased by a friend at a gift shop across the street from our school. He bought one for himself, and one for me. Both of ours had broken legs and shoulder hinges within a couple of weeks. Later, I had many of the Revell Robotech transformable valk models (1 VF-1S, and a couple VF-1J in varying scale) which I built, and several very tiny (maybe 1/144 or 1/200) VF1S-Super/Strike fighter-gerwalk models. I've been trying to ID those little models, as I can't remember exactly who made them. Later I moved up to a Jetfire, which I still have somewhere.

I second JBO's post - Use commandline M.A.M.E. with EmuLoader for best results (If you can't figure this out, you're on your own). All rom images for use with M.A.M.E. are available in iMacrossIV server under downloads. If you can't get them there, send me a PM and I'll hook you up. *Edit - BTW, I think he meant MAME32 when he said 'nice gui'. Do a Google search for MAME32QA and you should find it. *

Funny.... I actually read / lurked through that thread. Strangely enough, it was the catalyst that made me pick up the DVD, just to see what the hell you all were going on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on about I'd say that I side with the 'stopped before anything much happened' camp, though sexual assault is not exactly a laughing matter either. I don't see any point in reading any more into the story than was presented to us in the first place. Heheheh.... *Edit - the DVD in question is the OVA, produced or sold by "Manga International / dvdshop2001@mail2000.com.tw" (???). The actual product in question appears here: Ebay Auction*

I know I'm a way-behind-the-curve newb here, but I have to say that I'm most impressed with the artwork/presentation in Macross Plus (and only nearly 10 years too late). The music and storyline ain't too bad neither! Quick questions: I have the Japanese DVD version w/ English subtitles, Guld's character is titled as "Gald". Is this just one of the funny ideosyncrosies we get vis a vis the translation? Also, the credits list the contributors for the English version as well. I see a Les Claypool credited with the "final mix". Is this who I think it is? Thanks!

I respect your opinion, and I wholeheartedly agree that the later books make for more entertainment by way of story telling. King is definitely a killer story teller, and Wizard & Glass is substantially a great story. What I mean to say, is that the original work was of a much darker, edgier character than the latter, and King seems to be moving further and further away from his original conception of The Gunslinger; this I lament. The original book was not so much an exercise in story-telling as it was a kind of mysterious noir abstraction, a narrative for its own sake.... At least that's my opinion. Thankee Sai! [bows Comically]

I've also read all the books in this series (and some of the ancillary stories) but hadn't heard that a new book was due out. The Gunslinger, in my mind stands out as a truly classic work. However, King's writing style and plot devices alter so radically in the later books that I've started to give up on the series. I think the main reason that the style of The Gunslinger is so different than the later books is that it existed as a germ in King's mind long before he ever wrote it down; that King had a very specific idea of what he wanted that story to be. The later titles, in my opinion, seem to be written a bit more 'on the fly', without the same kind of conviction, or the same dark overtones/mysticism. I'm sure I'll read the new one when it comes out anyway, just to be sure B) '....to the Dark Tower, Childe Roland Came...' or somesuch thing...

Your problem is not that the boxes are too big, but that you have too many 1/48 valks. You should probably give them to me instead, thereby eliminating your storage problem. Just my $.02

Blackaces is right on about everything he reported on the Legioss'. There was in fact a red version of the Henshin Robo - I know because I owned all three as a youngster - the red one, the blue one, and the green one. They were about $10-15.00 US each when I bought them in about 1984-5. I don't know what ever happened to them (I'd love to get that sort of money for them now), but likely I threw them away or gave them to younger kids Ewilen - The intakes on those Legioss models used black decals to fill them in. This is why you see them "unfilled" on models without the stickers applied. *Edit - oops, misread your post. Nevermind * I also had all 3 of the small convertible ride armors, the red "Rook" type, the dark blue "Lancer" type, and the light bluish green "Scott" type. Sorry I don't know the correct names for these guys, but I was more a student of Robotech at that time. Wish I still had these too

I'd say the Valkyrie and the aplha [legioss] fighter were both about 1/72, though my memory tells me the valk was maybe slightly smaller than that. Then again, my hands were a little smaller back then.

The VF-1 is an old mid '80s Taiwanese knockoff, and the blue Alpha is a small Gakken. I used to have both back in the mid '80s. The knockoff valk was the worst piece of trash I've ever handled, but I had sentimental attachment to it nonetheless Thanks for the memories...

I've just received my first 1/60 Valkrie, a "Cannon Fodder" VF-1A by Yamato. My first impressions of it are good overall, though my only point of comparison is with the old 1/55s from the early '80s. In terms of appearance and posability (though maybe not durability), this Yam kicks some butt. My question, however, is this: What are the hinged panels below the knees for? I am referring to the pieces on the lower leg assembly which house the translucent green and red 'nav lights'. These can open and swing upward nearly 180 degrees. I thought that perhaps they were some sort of primitive 'kneecap', but they certainly don't seem to improve appearance when deployed, not to mention that the legs already have the 'simulated kneecap' detailed into the middle leg section. If you look in the Yamato manual, you can see these open on the 'parts' page, but no mention or illustration of them in use (or so far as I can tell, since I don't speak or read Japanese). Anyone know what these are for?