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Chronocidal

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  1. Chronocidal
    Maybe that's their solution for the way most of the VF-25 releases have the wings bent upwards? But yeah.. that really does not look good.
  2. Chronocidal
    True, I'm going off of release amounts, and not converting currencies. I just remember getting the early VF-19 releases for about $250, and the YF-19 I've been seeing for $260-$280 depending on the shop. The shift in exchange rate since the Fire Valk came out has really helped prices for us.
  3. Chronocidal
    I'd still take a Toynami 1/100 over 99% of the existing aircraft transformers. It's not a matter of production value, it's a matter of design standpoint, and personal preference. Valks are aircraft. They just happen to be able to turn into robots. The priority is looking like a functional aircraft, so that's what they're better at. Since I'm in this for the aircraft, it's also what I focus on. Transformers may be fine toys, but they're usually pretty freaking ugly as aircraft, no matter how much they cost. And you have to admit, even at the masterpiece level, all Starscream gets for landing gear is donuts pasted onto a flip-out panel. Do they function? Sort of. It's just a matter of priorities, and where the production companies want to spend their money for development. They're really not worth trying to compare, unless you like arguing about things like how baseball is more fun than basketball, and the like. It's pretty much the same level of topic. Anyway, I do miss the old prices Yamato had years ago, but unfortunately it wasn't enough to keep them afloat. The production costs for higher quality keep climbing, and Arcadia can't throw their weight around like Bandai to get things done (even Bandai seems to be terrible about that, considering how many tries it took to get the VF-25s right). Now, the future will be interesting.. Arcadia's current prices are higher than Yamato's were for the VF-1, but the YF-19 is roughly on-par for what the VF-19 series cost. If the VF-1s are overpriced, we may see them drop over time again once Arcadia gets solidly on their feet. If not? Then it's what the company needs to charge to break even, and I can live with that.
  4. Chronocidal
    Actually, the VF-0D is the same overall length, nose included. It's just that components are shifted around similar to the way the VT-1 is, and the canopy is a little closer to the nosecone than on the A or S. They might have to push the heatshield closer to the cockpit to make it longer. If the intake fins are molded in one piece with them, I don't think I'm too concerned about their strength. They obviously won't take any kind of drop well, but they'll probably be fine as long as you don't leave pressure on them. If you keep the gunpod loaded, it might keep them from even touching on a flat surface.
  5. Chronocidal
    Yeah..I can't argue that there are some nice car transformers... but, where aircraft are concerned, valks are aircraft that turn into robots, while transformers tend to be something like a kid robot on halloween who pastes cardboard airplane parts all over his body, and tries to pass himself off as something that could potentially fly.
  6. Chronocidal
    Well, technically there are ways to fudge double sided plates, but it takes more space than a single plate would. That giant B-wing is a great example, because it's actually built double sided. The entire main wing is a sandwich of two opposite halves, with all the studs facing outward, and plugged into the main assembly with some connecting rods and pins. The wing itself is held together by something I wish they had had long ago.. essentially a 2x2 plate with a 90-degree bend in the middle. We've long had plates that are like two 2x2s or a 1x2 attached to a bent down 2x2.. but these little things are amazing. They're only slightly too tall to completely press the two halves of the wing together.
  7. Chronocidal
    Given how many times I seem to see creations that require an astounding amount of 1x3 or 2x3 pieces to form a design with a single row of studs down the middle, I wouldn't mind more odd-numbered pieces. They'd become extremely useful in a lot of situations.
  8. Chronocidal
    To be fair though, the Bandai 1/72 transforming VF-1 is a bit skinnier than the Yamato/Arcadia design in some ways. I know some bits feel mostly the same, but the arms are definitely tiny compared to the Yamcadias, and the lower legs feel skinnier as well (this even despite the collapsing panel on the inner side that should allow the arms to be bigger).
  9. Chronocidal
    Did, but it's a preorder, so it's shipping now. I'm mostly looking forward to the soundtrack (which I'm disappointed 13-3 didn't come with).
  10. Chronocidal
    Hey, they're back to the old retail Yamato price! Well, thereabouts anyway.. maybe that was a sale price? But I remember picking up most of my VF-1s for around $80. I know they started at 9800 yen, but I don't recall what the exchange rate was at the time.
  11. Chronocidal
    Once you do hard mode, those weapons don't even come close to the max upgrades for some weapons. The crossover weapons you get from FFXIV for opening the walkways between areas max out around 3200 in either magic or strength. The trick is just farming the hard mode upgrade materials. Even after one run of new game + though, you should be plenty equipped to finish everything on easy, maybe normal too. Anyway, as far as Titanfall goes, that's hilarious. Now I'm curious if we'll see a bunch of machinimas based on the game where everyone runs around doing nothing.
  12. Chronocidal
    Well, if you have Paypal setup to use your bank account directly, or possibly if you have a balance on your Paypal account, it'll get paid straight out of that.
  13. Chronocidal
    THAT I would be all over. That custom red 1/72 VF-25S was absolutely gorgeous.
  14. Chronocidal
    Heh, dunno about the sound problem, but since I'm just using an hdmi cable to the tv, yeah, I would guess it's something in the speaker setup. Grats on finishing btw, I skipped the trials on my first run, and didn't even do the ultimate lair since it was so nasty. New game + will get significantly easier though, since it unlocks weapon upgrading. One thing they don't tell you though... even failing your first run will unlock new game +. You can't actually acquire the highest level upgrade and synth materials unless you play on hard mode though.
  15. Chronocidal
    Heh, I actually picked up four of the 1/48 kits of these a year or so ago, the F-22, two F/A-18Fs, and the F-14D. No intention of using the crazy decals, but they were the lowest prices I'd ever seen on some of those Hasegawa molds. What I find amusing is how Hasegawa specifically reboxed a few kits from other companies to do these. That 1/48 Mirage 2000 kit isn't a bad build, and that price is cheap.. just, it's also really really old.
  16. Chronocidal
    That's pretty much the way it's always been planned, and the way F-22s are designed to operate as well. You don't see it often, but they've got a good amount of external hardpoints as well. The F-35 can carry a decent load under its wings as well, especially the navy variant. What really intrigues me though, is the concept of stealthy weapons pods. I've seen some concept designs for a centerline pod for the superhornet, carrying something like 4 AMRAAMs in a blocky belly pod. Seriously, Kawamori has been ahead of his time for years.. they look really similar to the missile pods you see the VF-0 carry. Anyway, the F-35 is going to be a mixed bag any way you slice it. Will it do the job of all those other planes it's replacing? Potentially, yes. Will it do them as well? No. Air combat is just changing, and people are obsessed with multi-role aircraft, even if they aren't quite as exceptional. The other thing that's dragging the F-35 through the mud really.. it's essentially a technology demonstrator that someone got the bright idea to put into production. Most planes will get incremental upgrades, and test new systems before they get used in new aircraft. Everything on the F-35 is incredibly new, and untested before now. All the systems, all the computers, everything besides the basic airframe itself, are so new that no one really has implemented anything like them in another aircraft individually, let alone all at once. It's just as much a software issue as a hardware one, because not only do you have to get the bugs out of dozens of systems never tried before on any production aircraft, you have to make them talk to each other. The capabilities some of those systems offer are amazing.. but the F-35 is getting dragged down because many of the fancy whiz-bang gizmos it depends on are still in the experimental phase. Once they all work, they'll offer a ton of benefits to any plane using them.. but that's going to take a while. Honestly, I'm not expecting the F-35 to last as long as many people hope.. but I'm really looking forward to the planes that come after it, ones that build on all the knowledge gleaned from the development process.
  17. Chronocidal
    .... Ok, that makes absolutely no sense, unless it's made of styrofoam and meant to fly. Who exactly would even be interested in that? Anyone who'd spend the money for something that big would probably be old enough not to stab themselves with the pointy bits, and be extremely disappointed in the lousy detail and cheapness of the construction seen there.. And anyone small enough not to do that is probably not even going to be able to lift it, and be extremely disappointed with the lack of any kind of playable features. WTF? I don't get it.. what was wrong with the old FX mold (besides the crappy wing mechanism)? Edit: Ok, so it's somehow going to be cheaper than the most recent version.. and the pictures look like it might have landing gear after all, but still, it's confusing to me why they would make such a strangely mis-targeted version. If it does well and stays cheap, I might pick one up to customize and rebuild, but the bigger an X-Wing gets, the harder it is to make the wings stay in place. That mechanism is going to have to be massive to hold them open, or we'll wind up with the FX droopy wings all over again.
  18. Chronocidal
    So, uh.. have to agree about the Toyfair stuff.. really disappointing.. I don't understand why people think "nostalgia" means "we love completely inferior products that have no articulation at all!" But what's the deal with that big X-Wing? The engines look like a moderate improvement over the large scaled FX mold from years back (ignoring the blocky structure under the rear sections), but the rest of it looks.. well, quite a bit worse, the guns and nosecone in particular. What's this mold even meant to be?
  19. Chronocidal
    Digging this back up since (huzzah!) the replacement part for my printer came in. Think the overall problem I was having though is related to not keeping the print head clean enough. I was getting burn marks on things occasionally, so I think the buildup of burnt plastic on the tip of the extruder head was messing things up more than I realized. I know I've heard of people just detaching the extruder heads and soaking them in acetone to clean them, so I'm going to make a shopping trip for some supplies before I try printing anything new.
  20. Chronocidal
    I'd guess the big sets are probably due out around the time it hits dvd/bluray release. Probably won't work quite as well, but it does have the potential of reaching the audience that wouldn't want to bother with going to a theater, or the kids whose parents might not want to drag along to a full length movie.
  21. Chronocidal
    Well, there is a kind of technological battle going on in terms of how different countries approach aircraft defense.. The US likes stealth, and hiding in plain sight. In comparison, Russian planes don't seem to be that worried about passive stealth, but tend to throw more money into jamming techniques, and other assorted types of ECM and ECCM. Stealth only gets you so far, really, and there are always going to be methods to see through it. If stealth and radar jamming techniques get good enough? We're going to be right back to IR missiles, because until someone develops a total cloaking device that covers the entire EM spectrum, no amount of fancy ductwork and cooling camoflage is going to mask the heat of a jet engine. The "full of unnecessary junk" bit, I think is more a jab at the way they kept piling roles onto the F-15 over time. It started as a pure air-superiority fighter, but then started taking on everything else because it was just better at it in some ways. I suppose in one way that's a comment on the versatility of the F-15... but you could also take it to mean, "You mean no one else could make a purpose built fighter that was better than the F-15 at a role it wasn't designed for?" Funny enough.. the passive/active stealth argument was part of what was mentioned in Macross Plus, even. The discussion has been going on a long time.
  22. Chronocidal
    Yeah, not re-releasing the G is just ridiculous... that announcement itself is like an insult to fans of anyone besides Alto... or maybe Bandai doesn't think those exist? I still need a second G model to get the freaking crotch plate they forgot from my first one... dipshits. Anyway.. not terrible news, i guess I could get another Alto to display with the tornado pack as well, but that would give me three of them, and I really don't see a reason to get duplicates of anything most of the time (VF-19 derivatives excepted, of course). The only reason I have a second Alto is because I somehow slipped in on the AmiAmi preorder for the re-release, and couldn't bear to let that price go.
  23. Chronocidal
    Yeah, I didn't think the first round of orders had even closed yet.. that makes no sense.
  24. Chronocidal
    Uhhh.. wait. How does that work exactly? They're saying they'll reissue the parts before the first issue is even released? Or are they saying they'll re-release Alto's and Michael's valks so people have something to put the packs on? Or are they bundles?
  25. Chronocidal
    You might not have any luck there, Bandai doesn't seem to understand the concept of "replacement parts." Every instance of missing or broken parts from anything made by Bandai seems to have the unfortunate response of a request to return it for a replacement, even if it would cost 90% less to just send out the part itself. I tried for months to get a replacement crotch plate for my VF-25G, and had no luck at all.
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