DARKWIND

Isamu to the rescue !!! (And finished custom antenna, magnet attached )

Nice!!!!!!!

Which Isamu did you use and was it an easy fit?

Ah I didn't know that. The white guys eventually get tans even in shade.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

(Sorry. )

I agree about the addition of grey to the valks, it also looks awesome.

After looking at both types IMHO both are still pretty sweet.

But since both stories are official, (one being a re-tell/movie made after the other) wouldn't that make both vers. cannon?

I mean that's how I see it.

Well its wide open to interpretation/perception anyway.

True, this something I hope will continue.

Hopefully they will produce the male power armor too.

Good points on both sides.

But since you're buying now and not way back when, look for newer re-release toys.

Be very sure of what you're paying for and good luck.

Nice photoshoot, I mean real damn nice!!!!!

IMHO people can complain all they want but the ver.1 valks are still nice in their way.

And yeah I know, I've got a couple ver.2's but I haven't/didn't buy a repeat set just the 1J.

Everything else is just the birds they didn't make at 1/60 scale.

To me the ver.1's still hold their own.

Bottomline start with your fav then move to your least fav.

The 1/48's were and still are pretty sturdy.

Its just a preference of which toy color and construction you like best.

If you like it to be larger than life you'll probably buy a lot.

But make sure you've got space to store/display them.

We can't really tell you exactly which one to get first its all up to you and your taste.

YESSSS.!!!!!!!

Still have a chance, but I gotta wait till Aug to buy anything else.

War Pigs, Black Sabbath.

Another good track for my battlepod.

Since we're talking about guilty pleasures... I confess that whenever I make my valks soar I hear high and loud Robotech's theme by Ulpio Minucci (runs away from an angry crowd whistling Robotech tune)

PS: You'll never admit it, but I'm sure almost everyone of you has done the same at least once in his life.

Like I said "Guilty".

I've been known to hum the tune at work.

Whenever I tinker with the Quarter "Hell's Bells" or "Thunderstruck" from AC/DC, something about the guns on that sucker just screams "Come about hard Port and make ready for a full braodside!!!" "FIRE!!!!"

Yeah, the MacPlus music is pretty good.

Also when I grab my Destriod "Purple Haze" by Jimmy just feels right for some reason.

Like when I break out the CF's "Paint it Black" by the Stones screams, "yup these guys are toast".

And "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplaine for the Destroids too.

I've also got the soundtrack to MacFrontier and both disks for MacPlus, and saved them to my 360 for Ace Combat 6.

For me its. . .

"Crazy on you" or "Barricuda" by Heart for anything Millia related.

"Dangerzone" Kenny Loggins for Roy's valks.

"Frankenstein" Edgar Winter Group for my Low Viz and stealth1J.

"Black Betty" by Ram Jam OR "Radar Love" Golden Earring for Max's valks. (Depending on my mood)

Hikaru gets "Kashmir" OR "Whole lotta love" by Led Zeppelin also "Bring me to Life" by Evanescence.

Well now you know how cuckoo I am (this is just the tip of the iceberg mind you, I still haven't even gotten to the CF's, MacPlus, MacZero, Mac7, MacFrontier, and Destroids).

Let's hear from the peanut gallery, what's your dogfight/funtime/simulation soundtrack?

As sweet as this looks I'm gonna have to pass till I either get more cash now or, it shows up on ebay in a few months.

Yeah and as long as the shoulders don't crumble on it I have no plans to mod/strip/rebuild it.

I was lucky the shoulders held and still do till this very day.

And yes I have the replacements on emergency stand by both my V.1 Zero Valks.

(I planned ahead.)

If it was to differentiate between old stock and new stock wouldn't they have changed the box for the 0S as well? It seems odd that they only altered the 0A box.

I thought the same thing but see, if they are really working to get us buying again they might have just ran the 0S in the simular boxes to get product on the street and keep up with the schedule.

Then delay the 0A a little till the new boxes are done to ensure the differences are in the clear so to speak.

This way word of mouth sparks about the 0S being virtually solid then ship the improved 0A in a new box and BANG!

Everyone's happy all around with new, easier to ID MacZero valks, even after being sold out for a hot minute of time.

And @ GU-11. . .

I've got the first release 0S with the short leg syndrome too, wish I could find a tried and true way to fix it.

Again they pushed what they had on hand and what was ready to go, (ie. New valks old boxes cause production had gone ahead with the first plan then mid-run ops told them to switch to no-flap box late in the game.)

Later after it was all set in motion word might have come up that the new boxes were behind sched too.

It seems to me that they are trying to sort all the BS out over R-1's and R-2's (or re-release) to ensure these sell.

With a box change ya know you're getting a fresh tooled bird, to avoid dead stock over rumors that its the same as the first release. (ie. brittle shoulders)

And if the box change saves them cash then its good idea to boot.

Hopefully no more recasting shoulders to ship to god knows where.

And they can move on to other projects.

Who knows maybe the broken shoulder thread really got through to them with gusto.

Hell if this release were to have problems imagine the crap they would have to go through.

I mean look at the hubbub over the VF-1J sets, people don't want to get snookered again.

I think Yamato's doing Damage Control to get sales back on track and boost their rep back to where it belongs.

Sure we're waiting longer but this way when you buy it, all the fixes should be in place.

I have the 1/48 TV Max and the Kakizaki on its way and let me tell you they dont look the same as the 1/60's.

The 1/60's have that real TV white color whereas the 1/48 TV editions use the off white paint scheme as a base.

The 1/60 vermillion squad looks like it just popped out of the TV.

I posted a while back that I managed to get a 1/60 Kakizaki from Ebay - I paid $120 and received a set of TV super parts, I thought it was a little expensive at the time.....looks like i was really lucky.

Hope you guys manage to find Kakizaki.

Yeah. The one you picked I had on my watchlist till I could find it any cheaper but you sniped me about 2hrs beforehand.

But its cool I'll just keep trollin til I get a deal, like I said I've still got all the aces so eventually I think I'll get lucky.

At first I felt the same way about kakizaki too but, I never knew they did the TV types in 1/48.

So I figured 1/60s were the way to go.

I missed out and have been trying to catch up on some of valks.

I've got Roy's TV valk on preorder, Max's just got to the house a few days ago and working on Hikaru's 1J.

(With good shoulders, I hope.)

Did ever release a stand alone fixed shoulder 1J, just trying to get a solid confim on it.

And yeah i hope a reissue comes too.

That's a bummer, man. It did sound a little too good to be true, but I'm sorry to say I was right. The best deal I could find on eBay was $168 shipped, which is a better deal than I got. Best of luck!

http://cgi.ebay.com/MACROSS-YAMATO-VF-1A-1-60-Kakizaki-TV-version-/270586303269?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f00335325

Yeah I'm watching that one too.

But I can't make a move till I get that refund back.

You know how it alloted funds and all.

I might just have to wait till next month and keep trollin' ebay till I get lucky.

And yeah I think its strange how this one is so damn hard to find.

Maybe the "K-man" is more popular than anybody else?

Or since he usually doesn't get the love like the other guys, being produced all over, everybody just has to have him.

But if need be then I'll have the tv aces and the forgotten may return someady

No deal. They are going to give me a full refund.

Trust me this thing is getting harder and harder to nail down each time.

But thanks anyway it was a good effort for the info.

I'll just have to keep watching ebay.

Like Renato, I also love being able to walk past my bookshelf full of Macross books, or stare at my display cabinet full of Macross toys, even if I don't play with them much these days. However, with the flood of Macross products released over the past decade, things have reached saturation point and I'm now forced to pick and choose what to display and what to store as there is now too much stuff to display it all at once.

Unlike are US members and again similar to Renato, I'm also used to being able to travel a short distance to visit dozens of hobby shops, so this online web exclusive thing is a bit of a shock to me and takes some getting used to.

Graham

Agreed, you only have so much room to work with, it gets hard finding good cases to display them in and an area to put those cases in too.

I still have another set of shelves to put together for another toyline to display aside from Macross.

But still I don't want them to stop making the toys accessable either, its an endless battle.

To chime in this turned topic,

G-man: about the size of the house I can relate back in Japan I was packing stuff away as tight as a suitcase.

After the move back stateside its nice to have three garages and one all to myself.

Also with you and Bri both said about costs it gets harder to keep up "per-se" with what you want to buy.

Just look at the way things have been going for a long time now.

Early bird sales, and preorder discounts are almost the norm across the net. (And they are quite rewarding)

Sure I've got a little disposable income but, that spending has to be replenished just to keep at it with the normal s?ales.

But you add e-tailer exclusives and POW that cash goes fast.

So while I get the reasoning behind it all, they shouldn't forget the small guy who put them in the spotlight in the first place.

Cause believe it or not we outside Japan buyers do play some part (maybe a small one) in the game of collecting.

I'm all for running market tests, but when you know an item will sell just from the buzz it gets here, ya gotta go for the kill.

Most department stores in Tokyo and Japan have hobby shops within them and definately a selection of Yamatos aswell.

On video games vs physical toys, I cant see how one can replace the other. I will always prefer physical things on my shelf, DVDs, CDs, books, toys, I`m just not of the generation that is apparantly satisfied with digital versions of everything all on their PC. Sure it saves space and money but wheres the love for that out of print CD, comic book back issue or rare video game? Holding something `real` in my hands is more nostalgic and satisfying than executing a file will ever be. Same as with girls

And on that note i'd love to get a copy "Weird Science" (J/K)

Hehehee!! I dealt withem once before on a VF-27G and was quite pleased with the service, but I guess we'll know soon enough.

They should ship my VF-11B in a couple of days and I imagine Darkwind's Kakizaki as well.

Will keep you posted.

About how long did your shipping take for the 27G?

Cause I'm thinkin about another 11B in the future.

Thank you skizz just got one for the grand total of $132.00 shipped.

I tell ya there is nothing like the info you get here at MW!!!! ;)

From what I can tell, that is very much the case. One cannot walk into the toy section of some department store and buy a Yamato valk. The retail outlets are extremely limited, you have to go to a model kit/hobby store, and even those are becoming rarer than ever these days, outside of areas like Akihabara.

Specialty stores are closing everywhere. When I lived in Tokyo nine years ago I could just go over to Kichijoji without travelling all the way into the city and I would have several shops to compare Valk prices. They are all gone (though there is a Yodobashi Camera there now). Even just going into Shinjuku you had a Mandarake, Sakuraya and several garage kit shops to choose from. Again, all gone (again, you do have Yodobashi, though).

Literally, outside of Akihabara, Nakano and that one Mandarake in Shibuya, I don't know any physical shop in Tokyo where you could get a Yamato valk today. C'est le Suckage.

Man that sucks big time, when I lived in Japan, you go over to Toys R Us and pick them up easy.

Hell there were at least two or three small specialty shops in Yokosuka, and about 10 to 15 I would go to in Yokohama.

To think that they might be gone is kind of depressing.