Radd

Correction, it wasn't the title music, it was the 'Passion' music from the tv series. Trumpets blairing everywhere. The whole song, whenever I log onto AIM.

I'm still waiting to see how Manga's Giant Robo DVD set looks. I know I'm asking for a world of hurt, but if it did turn out to be decent and I bought the bootleg instead, I'd be kicking myself, as I really do prefere the legitimate copies when they are done well. Any word on when it's coming out? Any word on whether or not Manga's planning to pull a 'Macross Plus ME' on us again and dump their VHS masters to DVD? If they do that I'm buying a bootleg, end of story.

Beautiful, and it definitely looks as if you've put a lot of work into it. I can't wait until it's finished. I hope you intend to add more detail to the figure itself, such as somthing on the legs to make them look less bare. Even if it's only small pieces of styrene made to look like bolts. On a figure that size, little details always help. Still, even as is it looks magnificent. 'Damnatus', eh? There was another Warhammer 40k movie in the works before the Final Fantasy movie's terrible performance at the box office struck down a lot of potential films. The backers all blame it on people not liking CG films or game-based films, instead of placing the blame where it belongs. Still, that's a rant for another thread. Time to peek at this trailer.

Let's be fair, Rodimus kicked all sorts of arse in the movie, he didn't become the whiney, whimpy, "Oh lordy, Optimus! I wish I was more likes you der, with your manliness!" - Rodimus until late in the tv series, just before Optimus came back. Of course, Optimus is the better Autobot Leader by far, but to tell the truth I'd take Rodimus over Optimus Primal, or even the RiD and Armada Optimus Primes. Fire Convoy was a better toy, but in the show...well...anything related to those shows were pretty terrible. And it's not that we don't like LEDs in our toys, it's just that the Valkyrie 'eyes' don't light up, they never did. It's a gimmick that was poorly pulled off for the MPC in that it wasn't accurate, and it limited the mobility of the head (you could only turn it so far before the wires stopped it), and the plastic was so cheap, the entire head lit up and it looked pretty bad. The Matrix does light up. And I sincerly doubt they're gonna use cheap plastic for the 20th Anniversary Prime toy.

Allow me to offer a more objective view. At this point in time, Harmony Gold's claim that they own "all things Macross" is still keeping Big West from distributing any Macross merchandise or derivatives in the United States. Big West has proven their case in the Tokyo district courts, but has yet to openly challenge Harmony Gold outside of Japan. This keeps Yamato from domestically distributing Macross merchandise outside of Japan, at domestic prices. The only way to buy Yamato's Valkyries is to purchase them through a comic/hobby store which imports them, or to import them via Hobby Link Japan, as it is not illegal to buy merchandise from other countries, and I believe even stores are allowed to do this in small quantities. Still, you pay the Japanese price ($50 as opposed to about $80 for the 1/60 Focker Strike Valkyrie), plus shipping and handling onto that. As it is their own website, it is Harmony Gold's right to decide how they run their forums. They choose to delete any threads related to Macross merchandise that competes with their own products. Not all companies do that, but there is no reason why they have to allow talk of another company's products. I apologize, but I must disagree. Again, it is their own web forum and they have every right to run it as they see fit. Perhaps your questions do deserve an answer, but they are under no obligation to provide the answers. The Yamato toys are not 'illegal merchandise'. HG simply claims ownership of all merchandising rights to Macross and it's derivatives outside of Japan. Until that's challenged by Big West, no store or distributer can release Macross related merchandise without HG's approval. That does not mean they are illegal in Japan, and any publication is allowed to cover products available across the globe. I hope this is informative to anyone with those same questions.

No, I really shouldn't answer that question.

First of all, where did you hear that Yamato is pulling the 1/60 Monster? Second of all, why would smaller, transformable 1/48 Macross Plus Valkyries be out of the question if a huge toy like the 1/60 Monster was cancelled?

The wheels apparently fold into the arms or the legs or something like that.

I wound up voting for Macross 7, as that would provide the most variety. I mean, cannon fodder VF-11s, Pink Pecker VF-11s (C'mon! You know you want one! If for nothing else than humour value!), the various VF-17s (think of it, a Millia VF-17), Diamond Force, Max and Villia VF-22s, Millia's VF-1J (which is slightly different from her SDF Macross VF-1J), the Jamming Birds VF-11, and tons more.

In the Macross Design Works, the VF-5000 is attributed to Macross 7, by which I assume they mean 'Dynamite 7'. Unless the M7 and D7 licenses are treated as different properties, we might not see it for a long while. On the other hand, we might see an M3 VF-14, as the design was significantly altered from that shown in Macross 7.

I believe all of the Yamato movies are available from AnimEigo, though I don't know if they've gotten them onto DVD yet. I think their 'Arcadia of My Youth' DVD will be out soon, another Leij Matsumoto classic. Yamato is a good show, and even Starblazers wasn't too bad for it's time, not nearly as hacked up as Macross was for Robotech, but still, it's not the same show. Still dumbed down for kids. This is one of the few cases where I'd wholeheartedly endorse picking up a bootleg, as there really is no other way to see the show subtitled in english, without the editing. I'm not a huge Gundam fan, but I agree with yellowlightman's statement. Gundam Wing is pretty bad, and not due to any editing, it's just not a well written show. It's aimed at a much younger age group than the original Gundam was aimed at when it first came out and it shows in the poorly constructed plot, and characters that are completely devoid of anything resembling developement. The Universal Century Gundam shows are much better. MOSPEADA looks interesting, I'd certainly like to see the unedited Japanese show as opposed to Robotech. If Macross is any indication, it should be much better than what we grew up with. Unless the Eva Perfect Edition is another name for the Evangelion Revival, you might want to wait on that. The Revival is the original show remastered, and I think they cleaned up some of the animation. A slightly better Eva.

As long as they make it in 1/48th I'll be satisfied. More than likely if they make it at all they'll make it in both 1/48th and one other scale. Probably 1/72 unless they can't get the transformation right at that size. I'd prefere 1/60, then again I'd prefere all of Yamato's smaller stuff to be 1/60. C'est la vie.

Most wanted? That's impossible to single down. I want most of what's on that list. So I just picked DYRL? Kakizake to finish off my Skull Squadron.

Forget ALL of those choices! I will not be happy until I get my 1/48 VF-4 Lightning III!

Wow. My girlfriend set up her computer so that it plays the opening theme to the original tv series whenever I appear on AIM. I'm not certain what to think of that.

A 1/48th Kakizake would be the sweetest, then I could truly complete my 1/48th Skull Squadron!

By 'this year' I meant this coming year, 2004.

We've yet to see where this whole HG/BW battle is going. Big West seems to be taking their time, making sure they stand on firm legal ground, at least that's the impression I get from all of the information available. I for one don't question that HG owns the rights to the SDF Macross tv series, and the merchandising thereof, but I've yet to see any evidence that they own anything more than that. Companies make groundless lawsuits all the time to prevent competition, it's a terrible loop hole in the American legal system that has become a common business practice. It takes a lot of money and a lot of time to get around even those kinds of lawsuits and legal threats. I'm not saying HG's legal threats are baseless, perhaps their claims do have solid legal ground. All I'm saying is, they refuse to prove that they own what they say, which leaves things open for speculation. Unfortunately, us fans on either side of the fence won't be able to honestly claim we know what's what until Big West does try to take HG on in 'HG Territory'. If it's going to happen at all, I'd be incredibly suprised if it wasn't this coming year. The legal battle in Japan seems to be over and done with, and Big West has made several Macross derivative copyrights in the United States. Macross Zero will soon be ripe for licensing, new Macross videogame from Sega, Tokyopop's Macross 7 Trash release, and of course Yamato's continued optimistic hints.

The goggles, they do nothing!

I know there's a Robotech Starcraft mod out there somewhere, but perhaps the best suggestion I can offer is the Homeworld: Macross DYRL? Total Conversion: http://www.strategyplanet.com/homeworld/ma...ross/index.html

Control! Control! You must learn control!

I don't agree that it takes time to get into Gao Gai Gar. I was interested from the opening scene, and completely hooked the moment the theme song roared into existance for the first time. It's not fair to really compare two series when I've seen the entire GGG TV series, but only the first episode of Brave Express Might Gaine, but on the merits of only the first episodes for each show, I'd have to say the Brave formula was refined to perfection in the time between Might Gaine and the big GGG. I'm looking forward to downloading more episodes of Brave Express, but the first episode hasn't really grabbed me the way Gao Gai Gar did the first time. This has nothing to do with dated graphics (the animation in Brave Express is mighty fine for a tv series even today), the story to GGG kicked in right away and so far Might Gaine seems episodic from the first episode. The events weren't tied together very well, it didn't seem like a cohesive whole, more like a jumble of action and non-action scenes that had little relation to each other. Drama was also put to much better use in the first episode of GGG. There was little 'edge of the seat danger' in Might Gaine. I never felt he was in any real trouble, he just seemed massively overpowered compared to everyone else. Sure, in the first episodes, the hero has to awe and inspire, but you gotta lead into it. Otherwise you fall into the Gundam trap. "Oh no, here comes the White Thing. Do we even need to have the fight scene? Maybe we should all just go back home and watch that rerun of SD Gundam's Counterattack?" On the other hand, much like all the robots from GGG, Might Gaine's got class and style. It doesn't help that he looks awesome in both modes we've seen so far. As for why some of us adore Gao Gai Gar so much? For me it's the over the top, completely shameless, utterly pretensious yet not for a moment taking itself entirely seriously attitude that the show has. You just know that the people behind Gao Gai Gar put their heart and soul into it, and what's more they had a damn good time making it. I even heard that the creator of the show insisted he get to sing the opening theme song. By the time the show does hit an overly serious moment (which I don't believe the Anime in Action fansubs have yet), you're completely absorbed in the show. The characters, one and all, are incredible! Choryu and Enryu! Volfogg! Guy! The President! Mamaru! And of course, the man, the myth, the legend himself, Mic Sounders the 13th! Every episode builds on the last, as if the creators made it their first priority to top every single episode by introducing something bigger, better, and more exciting than the last! The first time you bear witness to Goldeon Hammer, it's absolutely incredible. To see this topped by what happens in the next episode, how they take this incredible thing and just make it the most perfect final attack in all of anime! If you can completely let go and let a well written adventure just take over, then this show is a Holy Grail. In a way, Gao Gai Gar takes the 'powering up' aspect of DBZ and does it far better. Instead of waiting a dozen episodes for the next big thing, it happens every single episode, one climax after another, building up through the episodes! But instead of that getting old and everything else in the show seeming insignificant, it's written well enough that everything in the show just seems that much more dramatic. I mean, the President is one caffiene pill short of jumping up onto the desk and shooting lasers from his fingertips whenever he shouts, "FINAL FUSION APPROVED!" That energy is just found everywhere in the show. Anyways, back to Brave Express Might Gaine, the show has potential. I can definitely see how this show is a step on the evolutionary ladder leading to GGG (Even Might Gaine's base looks like an unfinished version of the GGG Tower). I do hope that it picks up soon, though. The first episode just oozed with possibilities, but ended up lacking. If they can just manage to direct that potential better in the following episodes.

well, i think that's what it was, they stuck a regular pilot in the -21 and he couldnt handle it, but Guld could. just like with the -19, that thing "killed" 7 pilots before Isamu got ahold of it. Notice also how the YF21's General Galaxy team was peforming beautifully in the competition until Isamu showed up. Guld was literally on top of things! He's more sane and mentally able to handle the YF21. It's evident enough that Guld only took the pills later, not prior to being the YF21's test pilot. That is definitely not the impression I got. The YF-21 controls beautifully as long as the pilot is calm and controlled. Guld often is, it's just that when something sets him off, it really sets him off. And Isamu set him off like nothing else. It's true, though, we're never given the impression that there were ever any problems with the YF-21 team having crashes. Just the 19 team, due to the 19's maneuverability. I think Guld really was a calm, collected guy, but he had those restrained Zentradi fighting urges. He could keep them at bay until something really got underneath his skin. He was probably on the pills all that time, and they probably worked for the most part, just not when Guld got enraged by Isamu. It seems to me that it was the director's intention to give the viewer the feeling that Guld has constantly been on this medication for some time. I mean, you don't run into Isamu, get ticked off, then a day or three later run down to Walmart and pick up some Zentradi Fighting Instinct Suppressors. Even if this is common among human/Zentradi offspring, which it doesn't seem to be. Of course, we can debate for months, even years, on what we believe, and even give good evidence to back up our reasoning, but in the end we just won't know. None of us can state that we know what happened for a fact, unless we sat down with Kawamori for some Apple Genki and a round of Smash Brothers over the weekend.

Captain, you do realize that you just posted a major spoiler, right?

We don't yet know HG's relation to the Tokyo Pop release of Macross 7 Trash. It seems likely that Tokyo Pop licensed it directly from Big West, then pre-emptively offered HG a cut to avoid the legal troubles. Everything we've seen only says that HG greenlighted Tokyopop's plans to release it, they say nothing of HG licensing it to Tokyopop. It'll be interesting to see what happens with this.