physioguy

We all know 1st impressions are huge, but it is so very true when we talk about our macross habits. If you know your friends for a while, and then they see your collection they may be a little perplexed, but then just shrug it off as just being interesting. If you don't know them super well, like many coworkers or new friends or people you don't see often, the'll just assume you're a big weirdo. I explained this to my wife using the analogy: If the first time we ever meet, and we were in a room together and I let out a big fart, You would probably be so grossed out you would never talk to me and we would never get married. But now, if I did the same you just get mildly annoyed but it still think I'm a catch. ...sorry, I really don't mean to equate Macross to farting, but you get my point. And Sebastian, I think I'm like most of us when I say my toy habit does not match my social life either. And I also have thinned my collection to one smalll bookshelf covered in glass confined to the den, since we live in small apartment. It's hard to sell stuff off, but once you do you realize how nice the ones you keep actually are.

None of my friends collect this stuff, and they all think it's cool I have such a weird hobby, but truly don't understand it. Only my engineer friend appreciates the new CAD aided Yamato and Takara toys. My wife just puts up with it as long as they stay nicely presented in my glass-doored bookshelves in the den. She doesn't appreciate when they "escape" to other rooms in the apartment. I work with a national sports team, and I've never announced my weird hobby to them although one day one of the guys googled me and found my old custom Simpsons action figures and found me out. no big deal. If you can keep your nerdy side in check with your well-adjusted cool side than it really shouldn't phase people (except those people robomatt was talking about that i don't respect either). And let's face it, some of us at macross world probably exude dorkiness so showing people our weird hobby would just go to confirm their already formed opinion.

I just finished a few model kits, which leaves me with 3 different versions of 2 of my favorite designs. I might decide to sell 2 of each of these on ebay, since i really only need one (according to my wife) but I'll let you know if I do that in the for sale section. Destroid Monsters: One is the 1:200 IMAI model (pain in the @$$ to build, as many of the pegs and lines don't fit or even line up, and the plastic is lighter than most models, but is my favorite for the overall sculpt) The mid-sized one is a custom modification of the diecast metal monster. Not the best sculpt, but it's stockiness has grown on me, and i love the weight of diecast toys. The last is a Tomy version, same sculpt as the 1:200 one, but all PVC VF-17s: The first is a Bandai 1/65 scale that I airbrushed. In reality it is more black looking than blue, but the camera flash really makes it look lighter. The second is a 1/144 bandai set. The last one is the 1/72 scale Wave model I bought from xstoys. I included 3 pictures of this one so you can see how different it looks without the flash. Misc: A VF-0S with panel lines (looks way better IMO). I watched the worst, albeit Mac Plus inspired, Stealth and decided to play with my lego (jeez, I'm 30 years old believe it or not) And she's just perfect!

I recently bought the complete Shoji Design Works in Japan, and it includes all his stuff from macross, to aquarion, to cyber formula to armored core. I'm wondering if his other book, Macross Design Works, includes the macross zero and macross plus stuff too, or is it an older book? thanks for your help harry

If this is for real, I will have to sell most of my non-macross stuff, just to afford all the Yamato goodness (could someone who reads japanese please help = "taskete! Donata ka ego o yomimas ka?") I just started working on my 1:72 scale battroid collection, with my hasegawa 0S, 1S, wave 17d and yamato 21. Oh well, I really don't think my displeasure outweighs my excitement.

great job on some good looking kits! I'm stockpiling some hasegawa 72 scale kits, since this is the scale I can get most of the macross valkyries in, be it toys or models. I did a vinyl model of the VF-17, and I'm so glad to hear you said the ZERO kits were easy, cause the Wave ones were a beeyach. And, I'm glad to see another fan who just builds stuff and paints stuff in color schemes that he likes, and not necessarily what was observed briefly in episode 17 of the original series.

ok, I just uploaded a few pics here's my VF-17D completed but with not even primer on it. I just wanted to show you the sleeker hips and the other little modification made. I didn't like how wimpy the jaw looked on the VF-17S. It looks bad now, unpainted, but the lower mandible was widened with super sculpey. I know I'm being picky, but the hips and the jaw were the only two things I didn't like about the Wave model. I'll post pics when I've completed the model The other pics are the finished version of my Custom Diecast Destroid monster and my Custom Kaiyodo Regult SCOUT.

That's a fine looking vf-1s! I'm working on the same model, VF-17D right now, and i have to say that i've had a bit of trouble with it. I just finished the lower body this morning, and i found that the whole thing looked awesome, but the hips were too wide apart. I took the legs apart and broke the hip ball jts. and fused the hips in place so it looked a little more sleek, of course at the expense of it's mobility. I'll post pics soon. I want to have a 1:72 Battroid collection, as that's the only scale where you can collect the most macross valks at this point... unless Yamato has some surprises for us... Graham? harry

please, give us a rough idea of cost for 1/144 and 1/60. Maybe even 1/100? And much respect for not stepping on other peoples toes.

Please, let me reiterate. I said it's one of the best valkyries ever designed, on paper, not the best toy. But remember that this toy came out well before all the yamato goodness. I would love it if yamato tried their hand at this figure. They would follow the basic transformation, and then all they'd really have to do is detail it better, add a few ball joints, add proper landing gear, and make the profile of the fighter sleaker by making the legs expand laterally when in battroid mode. ah, to dream...

I also think the VF-17 is the best Macross valkyrie ever designed. The toy is quite good for it's time and looks 5 x better with a simple airbrush job. If you dont know how to airbrush, even just painting it with a semi-flat acrylic black makes it look awesome. But I know many people are against painting their toys. The only downfall i really see with the toy is that it's fighter profile is chunky. Sure, it's a little limited with respect to mobility, but it's a fine looking battroid. I'm currently working on the Wave model battroid to see how it looks, but i think i'll buy some more bandai vf-17s to try and customize a sleek fighter mode as well as an all black version.

For the Kill Bill girls I had to use sculpey for the school uniform jacket and for all of lucy liu's clothes and the nurse's outfit and hair. All the rest were just painted up parts from various pinky dolls, and the accessories were just extra things i had lying around. thanks for the kind words

Not Macross, but on my workbench. After doing my manly diecast Monster custom, I got really girly and customized my cutsy little Pinky Street dolls into Kill Bill girls.

thanks guys. Yeah, those are little fukochimas. I made a red, blue and black one

Here's my latest, die-cast destroid monster. I couldn't bring myself to spending 200 bucks on the 1/200 destroid monster model, so i bought 2 broken matchbox monsters off ebay for 19.00 and then used a little putty to fill holes and extend the nose. So here's a before and after comparison... plus a few other customs I'm working on.

Thanks everyone! XStoys was kind enough to sell me one of his, and i signed up for a service that gets me onto yahoojapanauctions. Macrossworld is a great help for my geeky pursuits harry

Does anyone know where i can get a hold of the VF-17 kit by WAVE?

thanks dude!

Does anyone know the actual dimensions of the 1/200 scale destroid monster? I know if it's an accurate model it should be about 11.23 cm tall, but I've had some old models be way off. Can anyone confirm the height? What I really want to know is how big is it compared to the diecast matchbox monster from the 80's. Even better if anyone has pics of the completed model.

I'm currently working on a kaiyodo Regult Scout for my crazy macross diorama. Still have to add all the fine parts like antennae and what-not. The diecast monster is too small a scale for the diorama, but unless i spend big bucks on an old model, this one will have to do. I loved the old Appleseed comics, but the landmate PVC from the movie was not bulky enough (as they were in the old comic) so I juiced this one. The other customs are just a posed galactic heroes clone trooper, a Samurai from Lone Wolf and Cub, and finally a Ninja Turtle with realistic swords. All these customs (except the samurai) are still needing to be completed

1) married, but what really curbed my collecting was moving into a tiny apartment. I came to 2 realizations. One is that when you have less space you can't fill it up too much, or you end up looking like that "superman panhandler guy" featured one episode on the Daly Show. And two, actually being selective and picking only the best ones actually looks better on the shelf. I found that having a cluttered shelf just makes you lose appreciation for the details in one or a few items. I have a shelf of 1/60, one Rau and 2 VF-21's (waiting for a YF-19). I would die for a Regult though. 2) as mentioned above, not a completist The other thing that curbs my spending is that I'm out of the country half the year with my job. http://www.vancouversportsphysio.blog.ca/ I still find ways to spend money though, and of all places, I'll be in Japan in 2 weeks. crazy

uv rays also speed the yellowing process, as you can see from old toys, like transformers and diaclones stored in boxes with plastic windows. Only the exposed portions yellowed, while the parts not exposed to light stayed white.

i have a set on ebay under "briareos" right now, and i kept one set for myself. Personally, I just like the monster. The rest are nice but they are in a slightly different scale as the kaiyodo ones, so i'll probably just keep the monster. If you want the set of 5 loose ones for cheap, lmk.

i've been itching to take an old matchbox, and reconfigure it a bit to make it look more dynamic and less rigid (by changing the straight leg orientation), and re-sculpt the head but keep all the cannons and antennae. just need a pod. hopefully yamato will come through before i tackle that custom though harry

toys do yellow over time with light exposure, but even with uv light, if it's not prolonged the yellowing will be minimal and maybe not even noticeable. Here's what i propose: I have smoked acrylic (like plexiglass) sheets covering my shleves, that snap on with cabinet magnets. This way very little light gets in. I next plan to install cabinet lighting that can b switched on, so unless you stare at your toys for hours a day, very little yellowing will ever occur. I'll pass on the uv lights though harry